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 “⁶ When Haman entered, the king asked him, ‘What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?’Now Haman thought to himself, ‘Who is there that the king would rather honour than me?’ ⁷ So he answered the king, ‘For the man the king delights to honour, ⁸ let 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 honour, 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 honour!”’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 honour!’NIV

‘’God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’’ (James 4:6 – quoting Proverbs 3:34)

This story amply illustrates the Bible principle that pride precedes a fall.

‘Haman hated Mordecai so much that he got up very early to ask for his enemy’s death. And Haman loved Haman so much that he could not imagine the king honouring anyone but himself! The proud man has a mirror in which he sees himself; the humble man has a window through which he sees others (Rom.12:10; Phil.2:3-4). Haman’s pride destroyed him (Prov.16:18; 18:12)…What a humiliating experience! Haman had to dress Mordecai in robes he wanted to wear, put him on the horse he wanted to ride, and then led him-a Jew-through the busiest part of the city!’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’,pp.275,276.

The Bible holds humility before our gaze as a virtue to be cultivated. It is called for in many passages. For example:

‘’Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up’’ (James 4:10). In a similar vein:

‘’Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time’’ (1 Peter 5:6).

In the New Testament, Jesus is portrayed as the great example of humility (Philippians 2:1-11), and we are called to emulate Him. That means it must be possible in the power of the Spirit, even if we find it difficult – and we certainly do!

Marlena Graves’ book, ‘The way up is down’, was in Christianity Today’s list of the top books of 2020. It is a heart-searching book, and is ruthless in extending and applying the Biblical call to humble service. Here is a quote from the first chapter:

‘Hearing the call to renounce our wills in each new circumstance so God’s will can be done in and through every part of us is the call to selflessness. It’s not a one-time deal. It requires daily repentance and conversion to the ways of God. We’ll constantly have to examine ourselves and decide whether we really want to go Jesus’ way and surrender all control of the outcomes to God.’

As Marlena emphasises, the battle for humility is constant, but it’s one worth fighting. Who wants to end up being a Haman?

Someone once pointed out that In God’s orchard, the branches which bear the most fruit hang lowest.

“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 honour 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 impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up 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 honour?’Now Haman thought to himself, ‘Who is there that the king would rather honour than me?’ ⁷ So he answered the king, ‘For the man the king delights to honour, ⁸ let 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 honour, 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 honour!”’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 honour!’ NIV

There is nothing we enjoy more than seeing the villain get his, or her, comeuppance. The book of Esther is masterful story-telling, and this sixth chapter makes for delicious reading.

Many years ago, Alex Haley’s book, ‘Roots’, created something of a sensation. Eventually it was serialised, and just before it was shown on television, there was a lot of publicity surrounding it. Haley was interviewed and asked about the secret of its success. He replied, ‘I don’t really know, but I do remember something my grandma used to say: ‘’You never know when the Lord’s going to come, but He’s always on time!’’ ‘

Not only does this sixth chapter show that we shouldn’t despise the day of small things; it also illustrates the perfection of God’s timing. The book of Esther is full of what many would call ‘coincidences’, but believers would want to say they are ‘God-incidences.’ There may be days when we cry out, ‘How long O Lord?’ We may be sure that the Lord will always be on time. But His movements will be according to His own timetable and not ours. It may look to us like He is cutting it very fine indeed!

Warren Wiersbe makes the point that ‘providence means ‘to see beforehand’. He writes, ‘If any chapter in the book of Esther reveals the providence of God, it is this one… God is working on your behalf today, so trust Him (Rom.8:28).’ ‘With the Word’, p.275.

PRAYER: I confess to you Lord that I do not always understand your timing, but please help me to trust where I do not see.

“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 honour 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 impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.⁵ His attendants answered, ‘Haman is standing in the court.’‘Bring him in,’ the king ordered.”NIV

Significant events may turn on small hinges. In this case it was a king’s sleepless night; it was a previous overlooking of Mordecai in the ‘honours list; and it was Haman ‘just happening’ to be in court at the crucial moment.  In the church today, many people are wowed by the big and spectacular. I’m not saying God is not in such. He may well be. But my point is that he is also in the small, the ordinary, the commonplace – so much so that we often fail to see Him there. Especially do we fail to see Him in little situations and (those we deem to be) little people.

We may often over-look the faithful godly. But God sees them. He knows their deeds; and in His own time He will rewards.

‘God’s delays are not necessarily His denials.’

 “⁹ Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. ¹⁰ Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home.Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹ Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honoured him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. ¹² ‘And that’s not all,’ Haman added. ‘I’m the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the king to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me along with the king tomorrow. ¹³ But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.’¹⁴ His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, ‘Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.’ This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.” NIV

I believe Billy Graham once said this, ‘The smallest parcel I ever saw was a man wrapped up in himself.’

Today’s passage suggests what a little man Haman was – a little man in a big position – and it does so with a touch of humour and irony. Verse 14 reminds me of the story of Jezebel maliciously obtaining Naboth’s vineyard for her sulking husband. Haman might have to await the allotted time to have all the Jews slaughtered, but he could surely arrange for Mordecai’s demise ahead of schedule? They proposed Mordecai should be hung on extra high gallows to make mean-spirited Haman all the more happy!

We have here a wonderful pre-figuring of the cross. The devil had ‘’gallows built’’ for Jesus, but he ended up being destroyed by the very instrument designed to crucify the Lord:

‘’Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death’’ (Hebrews 2:14,15).

As David cut off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s sword, so Jesus effectively used Satan’s own weapon on him.

PRAYER: Lord, we again marvel at your ways, and we rejoice in your victory.

^“6 As they were drinking wine, the king again asked Esther, ‘Now what is your petition? It will be given you. And what is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.’⁷ Esther replied, ‘My petition and my request is this: ⁸ If the king regards me with favour and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question.’”NIV

Even when wicked people seem to prosper, the rug can be pulled from under them at any moment (see Ps.37).

We don’t know why Esther didn’t make her request at the first banquet, but we can see that God must have been guiding her. The story is full of dramatic effect, and the set up for Haman’s fall is even greater. He must have been revelling in being the king’s right hand buddy, and getting to go to all these parties with him (see verse 12). But he was reading things all wrong. His ‘come-uppance’ was awaiting, just around the corner.

‘’Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall’’ (Proverbs 16:18).

‘Poor Haman was basking in false glory, boasting about false wealth, enjoying false happiness, and resting on false confidence. He did not realise that the shadow of death was over him. But is he much different from the proud unbelievers of this day who build their lives on illusions?’ Warren W. Wiersbe: ‘With the Word’, p.275.

“On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ² When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the sceptre.³ Then the king asked, ‘What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you.’⁴ ‘If it pleases the king,’ replied Esther, ‘let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him.’⁵ ‘Bring Haman at once,’ the king said, ‘so that we may do what Esther asks. So the king and Haman went to the banquet Esther had prepared.” NIV

For many years, upon re-reading this passage, it has caused me to think about our standing before God in Christ. As we come to Him, dressed in’’royal robes’’ of righteousness which He Himself has provided, He is ‘’pleased’’ with us. He welcomes us into His intimate presence, and we may approach Him. Furthermore, He is so generous in His offers to us. Think about the many, and varied, promises God makes in His Word to those who seek Him in prayer. True, there are also conditions to be fulfilled by us, but our great King of all kings is more than generous – even more so than this pagan king.  Our God is a prayer-answering God, and the very tone and atmosphere of today’s reading is intended to show us that the fasting and prayer were effective. This was a remarkable answer.

‘Thus having had power with God and prevailed, like Jacob, she had power with men too. He that will lose his life for God shall save it, or find it in a better life…

God can turn the hearts of men, of great men, of those that act most arbitrarily, which way he pleases towards us. Esther feared that she should perish, but was promised that she should have what she might ask for, though it were the half of the kingdom. Note, God in his providence often prevents the fears, and outdoes the hopes, of his people, especially when they venture in his cause. Let us from this story infer, as our Saviour does from the parable of the unjust judge, an encouragement to pray always to our God, and not faint, Lu. 18:6-8. Hear what this haughty king says (What is thy petition, and what is thy request? It shall be granted thee), and say shall not God hear and answer the prayers of his own elect, that cry day and night to him? Esther came to a proud imperious man; we come to the God of love and grace. She was not called; we are: the Spirit says, Come, and the bride says, Come. She had a law against her; we have a promise, many a promise, in favour of us: Ask, and it shall be given you. She had no friend to introduce her, or intercede for her, while on the contrary he that was then the king’s favourite was her enemy; but we have an advocate with the Father, in whom he is well pleased. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.’ Matthew Henry.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord for the many encouragements to our faith in your Word. Please teach us to pray, and forgive our prayer-lessness.

“¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ ‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.” NIV

Jesus taught that if you try to save your life you will lose it. But if you choose to lose it you will in fact find it.  It seems to me that Esther:

1. Acted honourably. Mordecai had raised her as if he were her father, and she honoured him as if he were. She obeyed him. (But note the mutual submission – verse 17);
2. Spoke wisely. She called first for an absolute fast. Desperate times may call for desperate measures. This applies in the spiritual realm also. Only after this total fast, lasting three days and nights, would she approach the king: ‘’When this is done…’’ (16). Fasting may often be a preparation for something. ‘Among the Jews, fasting was always associated with prayer; so we can understand that Esther and the Jews of Susa would be both fasting and praying – praying that Xerxes would respond favourably to Esther’s plea that the Jews be spared.’ Tom Hale:‘The Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.774.
3. Dared greatly. There was nothing reckless about what she did. She was well prepared spiritually. But when the moment called for it, she was prepared to break the law, and even die if necessary. Numerous saints have followed in her footsteps over the centuries.

‘For Christians today, the book of Esther has a special spiritual application. Like Esther, we are intimate members of the family of the King. We too are instruments to be used for saving thousands – millions – of people doomed to destruction. Are we, like Esther, willing to risk our lives to save them?’ Tom Hale.

PRAYER: Lord God, help us to live with a due sense of the seriousness of these times, and of our responsibility before you. Deliver us from complacency and spiritual unreality.

^“9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ ‘All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold sceptre to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.’¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?’ NIV

When Esther received her intel from Mordecai, via Hathach, she explained her predicament. No-one, male or female, was to approach the king unbidden, on pain of death. This applied even to the queen, and she had not been sent for in ‘’thirty days’’ (11). The only exception to this case was if the king extended ‘’the gold sceptre’’ (11) to the approaching supplicant, as an act of mercy.

So now it was time for Mordecai to tell Esther the unvarnished truth. ‘Look, if you go to the king you may die. But if you don’t, you will die anyway, and the rest of us! If you try to save your life you will lose it. Don’t think you will escape because you are the queen. God will raise someone up to save the Jews, but you will have missed your destiny.’ He wanted Esther to understand that she had been given her position for this very moment in history. So what was she going to do with it?

‘We may be quite sure that God will carry out his plans – with us, if possible; if not, in spite of us, to our utter loss. We should look upon our position as a sacred trust to be used for others. We are created for good works, which God hath prepared for us to walk in.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.212.

We too would die; we would be consumed by the ‘’blazing fire’’ holiness of our Heavenly King, if He did not extend to us ‘’the gold sceptre’’. But in Jesus He does. Whenever we approach God we may do so with boldness and confidence because of the cross. As a hymn says, ‘Oh the welcome I have found there.’

“When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. ² But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³ In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.⁴ When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.⁶ So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.” NIV

Mordecai knew that he had been the catalyst for Haman wanting to wipe out all the Jewish people. It wasn’t Mordecai’s fault that Haman was as he was, but he must have felt badly about it. Mordecai’s wearing “sackcloth’’ was a genuine expression of his grief. There was no pretence about his actions. But I think it was maybe also a way to get Esther’s attention. He desperately needed to get a message to her to use what influence she had with the king:  “…he told him to urge her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people’’ (8).

I would want to say to the church, ‘Go and do likewise.’

‘Thou art coming to a King,

Large petitions with thee bring.

For His grace and power are such,

None can ever ask too much.’

By the way, thinking about verse 2, I want to add that it’s not like this with our King. As someone wrote:

‘All your anxieties, all your cares,

Bring to the mercy seat, leave them there.

Never a burden He cannot bear,

Never a Friend like Jesus.’

PRAYER: Lord, may your church rise to the challenge of this hour. Help us to see the privilege and opportunity to come into your presence and intercede.