Esther 6
McGeeCHAPTER 6THEME: When a king could not sleep at night
Esther 6:1
The fact that the king could not sleep seems to be a very small thing, but God uses small things. Also, I am of the opinion that the king had many sleepless nights. As Shakespeare said, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” There were nights when I am sure the king felt that his life was in jeopardy. But this night that the king could not sleep was the most eventful night in the history of the empire because it is the turning point in the Book of Esther. Have you noticed that God uses the little things to carry out His program? Years before in Egypt God brought together a woman’s heart and a baby’s cry when Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby Moses in the Nile River. By this He changed the destiny of the nation. A supposedly unimportant thing occurred at the palace of Shushanthe king could not sleep. So he commanded his servants to bring the uninteresting records of the kingdom to him. They were read before the king. Evidently the reading of these records was conducive to sleep. They were the king’s sleeping pill. The fatal hour had come, and now we are going to see the hand of God begin to move. A servant was summoned who began to drone off this record, which is like a log or the minutes of the kingdom. I do not mean to be unlovely, but to me the most boring thing in the world is to listen to minutes. Have you ever heard any minutes that were interesting? I never have. I have been on all kinds of boards, and I’ve gotten off every board I could get off because I don’t like to listen to the minutes. They are boring. On the nights that the king could not sleep, he would say, “Bring in the minutes. Let’s read them again.” Soon the king would drop off to sleep. On this particular night the servants just happened to turn to a certain place in the minutes. Did I say happened to turn? Little things are beginning to pile up and reveal God’s hand in the glove of human circumstances. God is moving. He is overruling. It was no accident that Esther became queen. It was no accident that she presented herself to the king and found favor in his sight. It was no accident that he accepted her invitation to a banquet. Now he is unable to sleep, and it is no accident that the servant began to read at a certain place.
Esther 6:2
You talk about the Mafia; these two fellows belonged to the Mafia of that day. Mordecai overheard these two men plotting, the kind of plotting that we always think of in connection with the Persian Empireshadowy figures behind pillars, plotting in low tones of putting a dagger in the king. Mordecai passed that word on to Queen Esther, and she notified the king. That incident was recorded in the chronicles of the kingdom. When the chamberlain read this, the king became alert for a moment. He rose up in bed and said, “By the way, you didn’t read thereor I must have missed itwas this man Mordecai rewarded?” The chamberlain looked down and read the next set of minutes and replied, “No, he was never rewarded.” The king said, “The man who saved my life must be rewarded!” While all of this was going on in the palace, there is a knock at the outside door.
Esther 6:4
Just at the time the king discovered Mordecai had never been rewarded for saving his life, Haman was heard coming into the outer court. The king said, “Who is in the court?” It was Haman. He hadn’t slept too well either. He had come to the king’s house to get permission to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. Apparently Haman had the privilege of coming into the king’s presence at any time. When Haman came in, the king brought him into the conversation without giving him any background. He had come to ask for the life of Mordecai at the same moment the king is prepared to reward him! These circumstances reveal the providence of God. In the shadows God is keeping watch over His own. Although these people are out of the will of God, in the land far away from where God wants them, they are still not out from under His direct leading. These providential dealings could not have been accidental. When Haman walks into the king’s presence, he is greeted with the question, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” Haman thought the king was talking about him. After all, he had been made prime minister. He had been given the ring of the kinghe had paid a certain sum of money, true, but he was able to get permission to exterminate the Jewish people en totoand certainly there is no one else in the kingdom that he can think of that the king would delight to honor. But the king was thinking of Mordecai.
Esther 6:7
The true nature of Haman is revealed in his answer. I am sure you can see what is in his heart; Haman had his eye upon the throne. It was his intention, when the time was right, to eliminate the king. That is the story of the Persian monarchs anyway. It was difficult for a man to stay on the throne very long. Even in Israel’s history, as recorded in 1 and 2 Kings, if it were not so tragic, it would be humorous to see how short a time some of the kings ruled. Some of them only made it through two months. When a king sat on his throne and looked around him, he didn’t know who was his friend and who was his enemy. He couldn’t imagine because he realized that any man who was lifted up would attempt to slay him in order that he might become king. Obviously this was in the heart of Haman. Haman was thinking, “To whom would the king delight to do honor more than to myself? You let me have the apparel of the king, put the crown on my head, let me ride the king’s horse, let it be announced by a herald when I go through the streets.” What is he doing? Haman is preparing the people for the day when the crown and the royal apparel will be his. I am of the opinion that the king would suspect this type of thing, for he recognized that Haman was thinking of himself and certainly not of Mordecai.
Esther 6:10
There was nothing that could have been asked of Haman that would have been more displeasing, more ignominious, or more distasteful than to put the royal garments on Mordecai, put him on the king’s horse, and lead him through the streets proclaiming that this is the man that the king delighted to honor! To accord him this honor was mortification beyond words to Haman. He hated Mordecai.
Esther 6:11
Instead of leading Mordecai through the streets in honor, Haman had intended to hang him on the gallows. The humiliation of Haman at this point is absolutely unspeakable. You can imagine the feeling that he had as he led this horse, with the man who would not bow to him seated on it, through the street. He had a gallows at home, seventy-five feet high, on which to hang him!
Esther 6:12
Finally the ordeal was over. Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning, and having his head covered. Shame beyond shame. He told his wife and friends everything that had happened. Zeresh was a nice little wife, was she not? She suggested that the gallows be built, and now she is telling Haman, “I told you so. You’re beginning to fall.” It is not exactly comforting to have your wife and friends suggest that probably tomorrow will be your last day! Things are happening thick and fast. Haman no sooner gets home and explains to his wife and his wise men what had happened than there is a knock at the door. The king’s servants tell Haman to hurry up, the banquet is ready that he had promised to attend. He had looked forward to this dinner, you remember, and had boasted about the fact that he was the only one whom the queen had invited with the king to attend her banquet. He is going to be late for the dinner that he had been looking forward to, but the events were taking place so fast he couldn’t keep up with them.
Things are beginning to happen to his disadvantage. He has no control over circumstances. Do you know why? Because God is overruling everything and seeing to it that Haman’s plot does not succeed.