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ESTHER 6:1-14 ASCENSION MAY 24, 2020 That Night the King Could Not

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ESTHER 6:1-14 ASCENSION MAY 24, 2020 That Night the King Could Not ESTHER 6:1-14 ASCENSION MAY 24, 2020 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. 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. “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked. “Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered. 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. His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” the king ordered. 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?” So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, 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. 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!’” “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.” 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!” Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 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!” While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared. GOD IS AT WORK BEHIND THE SCENES 1. He Is in Control 2. Let This Truth Be Your Trust Forty days after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven. And the ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven is a very important date on the church calendar. And yet, it is often overlooked by many Christians. But it ought not to be. Instead, we are to be mindful of our Savior’s ascension so that we might be strengthened and find assurance in the fact that he lives and reigns and rules over all things in heaven and on earth for this good of his Church. When the timeline of this world comes to an end, every piece of God’s puzzle will be put into its proper place, and it will all work out according to his plan and purpose. Sometimes from our human perspective it doesn’t seem that way, though, does it? Evil so often appears to be having its way. World leaders seem to be calling the shots. Pandemics look like they have the power, not God. And we’re left wondering, questioning: “Why does God allow this – perhaps even cause this?” And one of the answers is: Trust. Again and again we must learn the lesson of trust. “We live by faith,” the Bible says. That’s trust! We live not having all the answers, but trusting that God does. Yes, our lives and livelihoods sometimes hang in the balance; and yet, Jesus hasn’t left it up to chance. He is in complete and total control teaching us in so many ways the lesson of trust. And this Old Testament book of Esther is preserved for us in the pages of God’s Word to reinforce this fact for us. So, let’s learn through this Word that GOD IS AT WORK BEHIND THE SCENES. (1) He Is in Control. Therefore, (2) Let This Truth Be Your Trust. If you read the book of Esther – actually, I should say: WHEN you read the book of Esther, two things should catch your attention. One thing is there’s something missing and the other thing is there’s something repeating. The something that’s missing is a someone – God. God is never mentioned by name throughout all ten chapters. And yet, he is clearly there, as we will see. The something that is repeating is all the apparent coincidences – what we might call the “it just so happened” moments. Let’s look at a few of those to help set the stage for chapter six here. In the early chapters of Esther it just so happened that Vashti, the queen of Persia, refused King Xerxes’ invitation to display her beauty before the men gathered at the king’s banquet. It just so happened that because of her refusal, Vashti was removed from being queen of Persia. Then, it just so happened that a young Jewish girl named Esther, disguising her nationality, won the Miss Persia Pageant and became the next queen of the Persian Empire. It just so happened that Esther’s cousin Mordecai, who raised her when her parents died, was sitting at the king’s gate and overheard a plot to assassinate King Xerxes. Mordecai in turn told Esther, who in turn told the king, and when the report was found to be true, the two wanna-be assassins were executed. But we should note here also that it just so happened that Mordecai was not rewarded at the time for what he had done to save the king’s life. As the story of Esther unfolds, one of King Xerxes’ high officials, Haman, hated the Jews and tricked the king into making a law that all the Jews would be terminated on a certain day. But it just so happened that when Haman rolled the dice to determine the date to do this extermination, the date decided by the dice was eleven months away, giving the Jews time so that they could be a part of God’s solution to this situation. It just so happened that Mordecai learned about Haman’s plot to genocide the Jews. And so, he sent word to Esther that she needed to use her position as queen to approach the king and plead with him for her people. But Esther was afraid. If she were to enter into the king’s presence uninvited, it could be her life. What was she to do? Well, Mordecai had the answer for her. We read in chapter four: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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?” (Esther 4:13-14). Do you get the point Mordecai is making here? Without naming God by name, he’s saying to Esther that God will do his work behind the scenes. Yes, relief and deliverance will come for the Jews somehow and in some way, whether Esther is willing to be a part of it or not. God’s will will be done! What God ultimately wants to happen is going to happen. It always does! But Mordecai also telling Esther: “God is calling on you to be on his side and be a part of this. You need to keep in mind that God has put you here at this time and in this place and position “for such a time as this” – for this very purpose and reason. Esther, it didn’t just so happen that you won the Miss Persia Pageant and you’re now the queen of Persia. It didn’t just so happen that I found out about Haman’s plot to kill the Jews. All of these things leading up to now didn’t just so happen. God is at work behind the scenes and he’s calling on us to be a part of his plan. So be willing to put your life on the line and be a part of that plan. And trust in God to provide.” As we go on in this story of Esther, there are plenty more “it just so happened” events. It just so happened that King Xerxes was suffering from insomnia one night and ordered the chronicles of his accomplishments to be read to him. And it just so happened that the incident about Mordecai revealing an assassination attempt was read to him – the one which Mordecai was never rewarded for. It just so happened that as King Xerxes was asking what could be done to reward Mordecai, Haman, who hated Mordecai more than anyone else, came walking into the court. It just so happened that God humiliated Haman and put him in his rightful place and had him march Mordecai on horseback around the city and say, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!” God, who is never mentioned by name throughout this book of Scripture, and yet, he’s fully at work behind the scenes, working his work in all of these seemingly “in just so happened” incidents.
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