What do we do when all hope is lost and God seems not to notice? Many years ago the complete annihilation of God's people seemed unavoidable. We cannot afford to miss the lessons of Esther today.

Esther -- God is a Turnaround Specialist (6)



We’ll be talking about how God controls our every situation as we continue in the book of Esther. We’ve been calling this series “For Such a Time as This.” Before I read Esther chapter 6 let me briefly remind us of where we are in the story. If you haven’t been with us, this will be sort of like coming in in the middle of a movie and that can be a confusing experience.



Esther is a young Jewish woman who was an orphan and raised by her cousin Mordecai – also a Jew, in exile from Israel. This was a time after Israel had been conquered. Mordecai raised Esther in a city called Susa, which is the winter capital of the Persian Empire. It is in present day Iran.



Through a complex series of events, Esther rises to become the wife of king Xerxes and the queen of the Persian Empire. Just as Esther was marrying Xerxes and preparing to become queen, Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot against Xerxes. The plot was foiled but surprisingly Mordecai got no reward, no recognition for that act. Instead, the one getting all the promotions was the man named Haman. He rises to become the second most powerful man in the kingdom, just under king Xerxes. The key fact about Haman is that he’s an Amalekite. The Amalekites were ancient enemies of the Jews and it’s clear that Haman is a hater of Jews. When Mordecai does not show respect to Haman one day, Mordecai’s Jewish identity is uncovered. All along here, Mordecai and Esther have kept their Jewish identity a secret. Mordecai doesn’t show respect to Haman. Haman is offended but instead of going after Mordecai, Haman goes after all the Jewish people. In fact, he requests that the king issue a genocide order. At a specific date in the future, all of the Jews in the Persian Empire were to be slaughtered. Men, women and children. What a horror story. Mordecai seeks Esther’s help because he thinks she can use her position as queen as leverage to influence the king to have mercy on the Jews. Esther reluctantly but bravely agrees to help to approach the king.



Remember, to go to the king of Persia unsummoned was not something you did. If you approached the king unsummoned, he not only had the right to put you to death, he often WOULD put people to death.



Esther bravely approaches the king, unsummoned, even though she was the queen, she could not go into the king unsummoned. Xerxes does not kill her. He extends his scepter to her and allows her to come in and says “What do you want?” She says, “I want you and Haman to come to a banquet that I’m going to prepare.” They do, they go to this banquet that she has prepared. The king asks, “What’s your request?” And she says, “I want you to come to another banquet tomorrow.”



Haman left that day and he was feeling pretty happy. It was a good day for Haman. He’d had this private banquet with the king and the queen. He’s going home and he’s very happy until he runs into Mordecai again. Mordecai, predictably, refuses to pay homage to Haman one more time. Haman is furious, he goes home and his day is wrecked. But his wife and his good friends have a brilliant suggestion which delights him. And that is to build a gallows and hang Mordecai on those gallows.



He has these gallows built and, as he’s building it, he decides in the morning he’s going to get up and go to Xerxes and ask for permission to hang Mordecai on the gallows he’s just built. That’s where chapter five ended. That’s quite the set-up!



Now we pick up with chapter six, a deliciously, ironically twisting chapter that has some pathos and some comedy.



1 That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 "What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?" the king asked.
"Nothing has been done for him," his attendants answered.

4 The king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had erected for him.

5 His attendants answered, "Haman is standing in the court."
"Bring him in," the king ordered.

6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?"
Now Haman thought to himself, "Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?" 7 So he answered the king, "For the man the king delights to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king's most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, 'This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!'"

10 "Go at once," the king commanded Haman. "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended."

11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!"

12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king's gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, "Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!" 14 While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.

This is God’s Word.

As we read Esther, chapter six, we start to see that God is something of a turnaround specialist. He can take an impossible situation and make it turnaround for our good. Haman starts the day, as he goes to work in the morning, thinking he’s going to hang his enemy Mordecai. Instead, at the end of the day, he finds himself bestowing the honor on Mordecai that he wanted for himself. Leading that horse through the streets of Susa, yelling out “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!” It really is a humiliating turnaround. Then, of course, we’ll see next time the gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai end up having a different use. The turnarounds continue.

You may know that Esther is the only book in the Bible where God is not mentioned by name. Religion is almost removed from the book. There’s some fasting. There’s some intriguing hints. In order to make a point, the author purposefully does not mention God’s part in the story. But the genius of it is, the author of Esther is really showing us what our situations are like. God isn’t seen, He’s not obvious in our lives, and yet He’s there and He’s in control. That’s God’s providence. The word Providence has become a cliché and sometime we forget what it means.

Here is a definition of the word Providence: “It’s the almighty and ever present power of God whereby He upholds, as it were, by His own hand, heaven and earth together with all creatures. And rules in such a way that leaves and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and unfruitful years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty and everything else come to us not by chance but by His fatherly hand.”

That’s what’s on display here in chapter six. That’s what’s operating in our lives. I would like to point out two truths about God’s providence that comes from this part of Esther’s story. These are truths that many of us know but we need to retell them and we need to rebelieve them. If you’re like me, I can forget these foundational truths about God’s providence.

Truth number one: Appearances are not controlling. Appearances are deceiving in this story, aren’t they? We’re beginning to see a turnaround, namely, King Xerxes has allowed Esther to approach him. But still, appearances aren’t good. If you’re Esther or Moredecai and you’re looking around, the landscape doesn’t look too pretty. There’s still this genocide order out there and remember, it comes from the King of all of Persia, so it can’t be revoked. Additionaly, virtually all the action here is taking place in the shadow of gallows that have been prepared for Mordecai. That doesn’t look too promising either. The author has left a question in our minds about how much incluence Esther really has. We don’t know yet. She’s not even sure.

What’s ironic is the author of Esther puts the answer in the mouths of pagans. Who gets it right here in Esther chapter six? It’s Haman’s wife and his friends. They see that the God of the Jews is on Mordecai’s side. What’s the take-away lesson for us? Don’t let appearances fool you. We’re going through some difficult times now and I know many of us are really struggling. It’s very tempting, easy, for us to think our situation is hopeless and it’s not fixable and it’s not redeemable. When we’re thinking like that, let’s stop ourselves and remember that what we’re not seeing is what we can’t see because it’s invisible. But it’s the most powerful reality that’s still at work in our life, even in crisis, and that is the faithful, loving, providential power of our father. That’s truth number one.

Finally, truth number two. What are the two truths here that we’re getting about God’s providence? Truth number one: appearances aren’t controlling. And now truth number two: God has already performed the greatest turnaround in history. In the birth, and the life, and the death, and the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. That, friends, is the greatest turnaround of all time.

Esther points forward to our Savior, Jesus. It teaches us God is faithful to His promises. When you look at Jesus, what do you see? You see a seemingly insignificant person, don’t you? You see a pretty unlikely Messiah, don’t you? Perhaps the largest hurdle of all, when you look at Jesus, is that hopelessly dark time in His life. It wasn’t a gallows, it was a cross. If the gallows seemed hopelessly negative to Mordecai, then how much more must the cross have been a hopelessly negative reality when you look at Jesus? Mordecai avoided the gallows, Jesus did not avoid the cross. He was actually killed on it. How could God turn that around? We know He did. Three days later. The vindicating resurrection from the dead. The sacrifice of Jesus. His life for your life was accepted by God. That was an acceptable sacrifice. The acceptance and vindication was evidenced when Jesus won victory over the grave, first for Himself, but then bought eternal life for all of us who believe three days after He was killed on the cross.

That was the greatest turnaround in human history and if it didn’t happen, then there’s no reason for us to be Christ-followers. Christianity stands or falls on the truth of the resurrection. If it’s not true, then we of all people are to be most pitied. I’m here to testify to you that the resurrection happened. The greatest turnaround in human history. The man the king delights to honor – Jesus – was brought to nothing… you see, that’s where Mordecai becomes a counter-type. Mordecai was robed and he was crowned and he was honored. But the man the King of kings delights to honor was disrobed. He was stripped. He was beat. He was nailed to a cross. He was subjected to the ultimate dishonor so that you and I might have the honor of being children of the living God. We, you! You can be a person that the king delights to honor. Not because you deserve it but because Jesus has bought you that honor by His death and His resurrection.

If you’re not a Christian, I just want to mention that actually what you’ve heard is sort of dangerous. There’s a danger implicit in this message. Verses 13 and 14 of Esther 6 are a little bit terrifying, if you put yourself in Haman’s shoes. His friends and his wife have woken up to the fact that he’s on the wrong side of God. While they’re talking, the Hebrew’s great and the NIV picked it up perfectly, while they’re still talking, the king’s officials just swooped in and took him away. Off to the next banquet, which he thought was prepared in his honor but was, instead, designed for Haman’s demise. What it means, friends, is there’s a time now to consider Jesus. There’s a time now to look at your own heart. Recognize, before God, you are a sinner, that you don’t measure up. You can still consider Jesus and lean on Him. What Esther reminds us is there will be a time when you won’t be able to. There will be a time when it’ll be too late. Events will overtake you and you’ll get swept along and you’ll be on the wrong side of the living God. You need to hear that. I don’t mean this to be an emotional scare tactic. I’m just telling you the truth. Consider Jesus while there’s still time. Consider Him. And repent.

Because of our sin, we only deserve dishonor. How can we be honored before the Lord? By putting our faith in the only One Whom the king delights to honor and that’s Jesus. When we do that we are clothed in His honor and receive honor from God because of Jesus.

Suffering Christian, take heart. You who are not a Christian, take this to heart as well. Seriously consider Jesus.