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Esther 6:1-14

Some of you have noticed the title of today’s sermon and are wondering how I’m going to tie Sleepless in Seattle (the movie) with the biblical book of Esther. Well, the answer is: I’m not. I simply borrowed the title and plugged in Susa. Some might say it’s coincidental that Seattle and Susa both begin with the letter ‘S.’ But if there’s anything that we’ve seen in this study of Esther, it’s the fact that there’s no such thing as “coincidence.” Rather, I think it’s pretty providential. Wouldn’t you say?

No, there’s no connection between the 1993 movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan except, perhaps, the fact that this is the Sunday following Valentine’s Day and that was the day that Sam (Hank’s character) and Annie (Ryan’s character) were scheduled to meet at the top of the Empire State Building. But that’s a rather flimsy connection, as well. No. It wasn’t a movie, or a late-night phone call to Dr. Marcia Fieldstone, or the lyrics of a song that kept king Xerxes awake all night in Esther 6. That’s where you need to go.

If you have a copy of God’s Word – and I hope that you do, because that’s what I use here at Mountain Hill Church – then let me invite you to turn with me to Esther 6. We encounter a king that can’t sleep, a queen that’s failed to tell him what’s troubling her, and a bad guy that can’t contain his excitement. The chapter takes place at night, and we open up in the king’s bedroom. Follow along with me:

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.” 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.”

14 While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared.

“Thank You, Father, for the reminder this morning that part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to help us to understand the Bible. So, we pray for that help now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Just as a little review, the Jews were still on course to be exterminated. Back over in Esther 3:13 we read that letters were sent by couriers to all the provinces with these instructions: destroy, kill, and annihilate all Jews. Now Haman had conveniently left out the identity of the people he wanted to kill when he was telling Xerxes. So, Xerxes doesn’t know that it’s his wife’s people. In fact, Xerxes doesn’t know that his own queen is a Jew (at this point). So, Xerxes is completely in the dark on this thing. None of that has changed.

What had changed had to do with Mordecai. You remember that Mordecai used to sit at the king’s gate, and he refused to bow to Haman, which led to this holocaust of the Jews. Well, not only that, but because he continued to show Haman no honor, Haman’s family and friends had convinced Haman to build a gallows 50 cubits heigh (75’ tall) and hang Mordecai on it (Esther 5:14). Now, what we don’t know for sure is exactly what is meant by “hang.”

See, our western-American thinking automatically assumes the wild west picture of a gallows and a noose and a trap door and all the rest. But that’s not necessarily what’s in view here. It could be, but it might also refer to “hanging” like we say, “hang that picture over there.” So, it could refer to affixing someone to the gallows. But there’s another way that this word is translated, and if you’re reading from the NIV (New International Version) or the NLT (New Living Translation), you see that the translators chose the other usage – “impaled.” That’s right. The Greek historian Herodotus recounts that, when Darius I, king of Persia, conquered Babylon, he impaled 3,000 Babylonians. So, Mordecai was on the fast track to be killed the very next morning.

And Esther (chapter 6) is filled with people that are facing desperate situations, desperate decisions, and desperate moments. Listen to me, God will often use the times of our desperation as a stage to display His sovereign power and deliverance. It’s true. Often times, God will use our desperation as a stage to display His sovereign power and deliverance. And that’s what we’re going to see this morning, and our first principle is this:

When No One Else Remembers, God Does

When no one else remembers, God does. Verses 1, 2 and 3 actually take us back to an event that occurred in chapter 2. You might remember, back at the end of chapter 2, that Mordecai overheard a plot being hatched by two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthan and Teresh. They were going to kill Xerxes; Mordecai found out about it and alerted Esther, who, in turn, told Xerxes, and Xerxes’ life was spared. Well, on this particular night (chapter 6), Xerxes can’t sleep; so, he calls for some bedtime reading and what’s brought to him is nothing less than the record of that event from several years prior.

And so, he asks his attendant, “Hey, what was ever done for Mordecai?” and the guys says, “Nothing. Zip. Nada.” (That’s in the Hebrew.) You didn’t remember him. You didn’t say “thank you.” You didn’t send him a card. You didn’t give him a plaque to hang on the wall. You didn’t get him a cute knick-knack to go on the mantle. You didn’t do anything. And the interesting thing to me is that Mordecai never says a word. The text doesn’t say anything about Mordecai complaining or whining or poor-mouthing Xerxes. Listen, you come to the beginning of chapter 3 – right after Mordecai has saved Xerxes’ life – and what do we see? Haman is getting promoted. Who’s this guy? Where did he come from? What happened to Mordecai? Oh, he’s sitting at the king’s gate doing his job. And yet, he never says a thing.

All the while, it’s Haman that’s getting all the attention, all the promotion, all the glory. And we say to ourselves, “Isn’t that just like life?” How many times have we done something great at work and nobody said a word? Nobody paid us any attention. Nobody gave us a plaque. Nobody held a dinner. Nobody gave us a gift. Nobody gave us an increase in salary, all the while we did something great for the business. How many times does that happen? All the time. And not just at work. Wives/husbands, how many times do you go out of your way for your spouse, and you feel as though it was overlooked? You give. You serve. You go out of your way, and yet it seems that nobody notices. And so, we get hurt and offended because we think that nobody remembers or notices, but God does.

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says, “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do” (Hebrews 6:10). The preacher can overlook it and forget it. The staff can overlook it and forget it. Your spouse can overlook it and forget it. Your boss can overlook it and forget it. Students, your teachers and coaches can overlook it and forget it. But listen to me, God never forgets a thing that you do for Him. Here’s another verse, Psalm 56:8, “You have kept count of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?” God has a book. Listen, let me take you to the last book of the Old Testament, to the prophet Malachi. Listen to what he says, Malachi 3:16, “Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed His name.”

Dear brother and sister, you may have been forgotten and overlooked by everybody else, but God remembers what you’ve done for Him. There’s an old hymn from back in the 50’s. I know, I just said, “old hymn” and 50’s in the same sentence. Listen, there’s a hymn that Ira Stanphill wrote in 1953 called Follow Me, and one of the refrains in that hymn says, “If just a cup of water I place within your hand, Then just a cup of water is all that I demand.” Jesus said that. He said, “I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:36-38, paraphrased). Nobody else may remember what you’ve done, but Jesus remembers what you did for Him.

When No One Else Knows, God Does

Now, let me show you the second principle. When no one else knows, God does. Nobody in the entire chapter knows what’s going on with everybody else. Each of the players are oblivious to what’s going on with the others. Xerxes is in his bedroom having trouble going to sleep. He doesn’t know that Haman has prepared gallows and is planning on asking permission to have Mordecai skewered. Haman is so excited about his plan that he can’t sleep and he’s out in the king’s courtyard. I imagine that he’s just pacing back and forth waiting for the first opportunity to see the king.

You know, we aren’t given any indication or clue what time of night this is. Could be shortly after the party. Could be 2, 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. We don’t know. I imagine Haman is like those crazy people that camp out in front of the department stores just before Black Friday, or those crazy college students that camp out all night in front of the arena or stadium to get tickets to the big game or the concert. He’s so excited about what he’s planned for Mordecai, but he doesn’t have any idea what Xerxes just finished reading.

Poor ole Esther is busy preparing for another party and doesn’t have time to be thinking about Xerxes sleepless night or Haman’s eager anticipation. What about us, the readers? You say, “Well, I’ve already read ahead, and I know what’s going to happen.” That may be, and I hope you have, but that’s not what I’m not talking about. Let me show you something that we wouldn’t have a clue about unless the Bible told us. In fact, I’m sure that most of us probably missed it.

Look at verse 6. Xerxes invites Haman into his bedroom and asks him what should be done for the man that the king wishes to honor, and notice the second part of verse 6, “And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” You see that phrase, “And Haman said to himself…”? In the Hebrew it says, “And Haman said in his heart…” You and I were completely unaware of what Haman was thinking in his heart until the text of Scripture told us. We’re getting the opportunity to see inside the heart of this man. We’re getting to see a part of Haman’s heart that nobody else knows – not even his wife – except for the God who knows.

And notice what Haman wants. Pay close attention to Haman’s response (vss. 8-9), “[L]et 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. 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.’” Haman wants to be the king. Haman wants what the king has. He wants the king’s robe. He wants the king’s horse. He wants the trumpets and fanfare. He wants someone to go before him proclaiming his special place of honor. Did you know that? I didn’t know that prior to God’s Word telling me. I didn’t know that’s what Haman wanted in his heart, but God did.

Does that sound like somebody else in the Bible? Was there somebody else that wanted to be the king, wanted what the king had, wanted the glory and honor of the king? Sounds a little bit like Satan, doesn’t it? Here’s a guy (Haman) who comes off as being Xerxes’ greatest counselor – his greatest servant. He appears to be serving the king, when in reality he’s serving himself.

And here’s an application that none of us are going to like, especially me. This very thing happens in the church. To some degree or another, at some point or another, we’ve all been guilty of playing the part of Haman. We serve, and do, and give, and go, and teach, and minister, and invest, and we all want people to know that we’re doing it for the King, when down on the inside (in all honesty) we’re wanting a little glory for ourselves. I told you that you wouldn’t like it. But it’s true. The pastor, the staff, the deacons, the council, the Bible study leaders, the prayer group and small group facilitators, and the people in the pews – we all need to ask ourselves, “Whose glory do we seek in what we do at Mountain Hill Community Church?”

That hurts. And I’m the one having to preach this. And listen, all your eyes are on me. We need to pray what David prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” When we serve . . . are we serving for show, or are we serving out of a heart that loves God?

Now listen, I can’t move on without drawing our attention to the greatest irony in all the Bible. In fact, this is Hebrew humor at its best. Look at verse 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.’” I bet Haman’s jaw hit the floor. I bet Haman said, “I’m sorry, my Persian is a little rusty. I’m not familiar with that Chaldean dialect. Did I hear you right? You want me to do that for MORDECAI?”

Dr. Tim Mackie holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew and is a former pastor and adjunct professor at Western Seminary. He says that verse 10 is the “crucial pivot, the ultimate reversal. Every detail of Mordecai’s recognition, even his own role, as the one to make the honorary proclamation, all came from his own mouth. Haman personally designed the whole extravagant show.” Talk about no one else knowing – Mordecai has been silent this entire chapter and all of a sudden, he finds himself riding on the back of the king’s royal horse, wearing the king’s royal robe, being heralded by none other than the man that wanted to kill him. Mordecai is the most surprised man in the entire kingdom. That’s the beauty of the story. When no one else knows, God does.

When No One Else Dispenses Justice, God Does

Finally, let me show you the last principle. When no one else dispenses justice, God does. Now, we need to get to verse 13, but I can’t get there without first saying just a little word about verse 12.

This honoring of Mordecai happened a few years after Mordecai saved Xerxes’ life. Now think about it. Put yourself in Mordecai’s shoes. You save the king’s life, and now you kind of expect some sort of recognition, but nothing. Eventually, you just go on about your business and then, finally, out of the blue, the day comes when you’re dressed in the king’s finest, and paraded around the empire on the king’s horse, and honored before all.

Now, watch Mordecai in verse 12, probably one of the most underrated verses in the entire Bible, “Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate.” He just went back to work. Who, after they’ve been in the limelight, can do that? Who, after they’ve been in the place of honor and accolades and receiving the royal treatment, can simply go back to their former life? This verse speaks to the humility of Mordecai. I can’t say all that I want. I can’t explain it all, but folks, there’s a link between justice and humility. Listen to 1 Peter 5:5, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Why did this happen? We’ve seen that Mordecai is in a position of compromise. He and Esther, both, should’ve returned to Jerusalem when the Jews were released from captivity. But they didn’t. We never hear the name of God on his lips. We never see him pray. We never see him in the synagogue. We never see him reading the Torah. The closest thing to faith and religious devotion that we see him doing is putting on sackcloth and ashes, but even then, there’s no explicit mention of repentance. God could’ve shown favor to Haman, but He doesn’t. Why? Because he’s full of pride.

Now we get to verse 13. Haman goes down to his house and recounts everything that’s happened and notice the change of tone. Just a few moments earlier they were giving instructions on building gallows and killing Mordecai. Listen to what they say now, “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.” You go back to Genesis 12, where God establishes His covenant with Abraham and you hear these words, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3, NKJV). That’s still true to this very day.

Just when you think that Haman is about to get away with murder, God dispenses justice. Never once in all of Haman’s peacock strutting and evil plotting had God ignored him or his plan to murder Mordecai and the Jews. God hadn’t missed his statements, the pride of his heart, the violent and prejudicial motives behind his decisions. God might have been invisible, but He wasn’t out of touch, and He hadn’t forgotten His people or the promises He made to them.

Let me close with this fictional, yet poignant, story. Perhaps you’ve heard it. There was a man who was shipwrecked on an uninhabited island. He painstakingly built a little hut for protection from the elements where he could keep the few items he had salvaged from the wreck. For weeks he lived with only the hot sun and the cold nights and the tropical storms for company. Prayerfully, he scanned the horizon for the approach of a ship. Nothing.

Then, once evening, when he was returning from a search for food, he was terrified to find that his little hut was in flames. As he stood there, unable to put out the fire, he was crushed by the disaster. What few possessions he had were now gone up in smoke. He went to sleep that night near the ashes, listening to the surf pounding on the sand and despair throbbing in his heart.

Early the next morning he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island – the first ship he’d seen in all the weeks he had been searching for the hope of rescue. Still trying to believe his eyes, he heard footsteps and then heard the captain’s voice: “We saw your smoke signal, and we came to rescue you.”

God seemed so distant for so long, but He was working on both ends – to bring the ship of rescue near at just the right time and to reduce the hut to ashes and the man to his knees. Where are you in that story? Do you feel that God has been absent or “on hold” in your life? Distant in some way? He may have seemed absent, but He’s been present all along. Furthermore, He knows your heart. He knows the true condition of your soul. He knows the hidden impurities of your motives. He knows the deep depravity of your sin. But He’s heard your cry and He won’t turn you away. He always responds to a truly humble heart that comes to Him on His terms.

“O God our Father, look upon us in Your grace and kindness, we pray. You know us. Grant to us the enabling of the Holy Spirit, so that our hard hearts may be softened, and our dull eyes may be able to see. And help us to bow down underneath Your sovereign rule, acknowledging You to be a good God, entirely reliable, even through our sadness, and our disappointment, our shortcomings and our rebellions. For we pray in your Son’s name. Amen.”