Esther - Satan's Enemy

Esther 5:9-14 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. Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home. Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. "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. But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate." His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, "Have a gallows built, seventy-five feet high, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go with the king to the dinner and be happy." This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the gallows built.

Misery loves company. Isn't that how the old saying goes? These verses really speak that truth. Haman was at the top of the ladder, right under the king, had just had a banquet served by the queen and is heading home for the evening. Who does he run into? Good ol' Mordecai. Once again, Mordecai just sat there, didn't say anything to Haman and Haman got angry. He ran home to his wife and called all his buddies together.

Now, there are a couple of things to look at in the next two verses (11 and 12). First, we see Haman go on and on about how good he's got it. He's got money, position, sons and he was the only one invited to the banquet by the queen, and invited back - how charming he thought he must be. But, he admitted, none of it made him happy because Mordecai bothers him so much.

Are we the same way, we let one small thing that irritates us overshadow all the blessings that we've been given? We focus so much on that one thing that the only solution anyone can see is to wipe out the problem. Before we go on, I'd like to note the second thing. If we can read between the lines here at what must've happened at dinner that evening. Haman is so excited that he's been invited back - how must Esther have behaved? This young orphan girl, ripped from her family and home, obedient to go to the king and request the banquet and then to pretend during the evening that she was so impressed with Haman - this man who wanted her people slaughtered - she wanted him to come back the next night! I think she could've won an Oscar for that performance. The strength she must have had to build up, the patience and will power to keep her mouth shut - truly God was guiding her.
At the end of Chapter 5, we see the advice that Haman's friends and wife have for him. Build a gallows and kill Mordecai. Now remember, he already had everything in place to have him killed when they attacked the rest of the Jews, but this just wasn't fast enough. So he had the gallows built that very night! Now we've already discussed the importance of choosing your friends wisely, and this is not what Haman had done.

But looking at the big picture, Mordecai was only praying at this point. During the dinner Esther had with the king, during the building of the gallows and Haman's evil plan - Mordecai didn't know about any of this - he simply prayed. I don't think we know even half of what the devil has in store for us each day and how much of it gets thwarted because we choose to pray and ask God to guide our steps. When God's people pray, miracles happen. My husband shared this with me the other day: "When she rolls out of bed in the morning and her feet hit the floor, Satan says, 'Darn, she's awake!'" I want to be that woman - don't you?

Esther - Taking it Slow

Esther 5:1-8 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. When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. Then the king asked, "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you." "If it pleases the king," replied Esther, "let the king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet I have prepared for him." "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. 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." Esther replied, "My petition and my request is this: If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill 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."

Esther got all dolled up before she went to see her husband. How many of us have pulled this trick? There's a new dress at the store, or the garage needs cleaned or mom is coming over for dinner and we pull out all the stops to do what we think is going to attract the attention of our husband.

Only upon seeing his wife, she didn't even have to speak, and he said "what can I give you, whatever you want?" You can't get a much better response than that! If Esther had known that this was going to be the kings reaction to her, do you think she would've prepared such a big banquet for him and her enemy? Is that the way we do it sometimes, we try to take the shortest route possible, do the least amount of work - just enough to get the job done.

When we take the time to pray and listen to what God tells us to do, there should be no shortcuts.

Esther - Superhero?

Esther 4: 6-17 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. 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. 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 urge her to go into the king's presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, "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 he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king." When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 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. 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 royal position for such a time as this?" Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: "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 maids 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." So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.

So Esther finally gets to the bottom of Mordecai's pain. All her people are about to be killed and he is telling her it is up to her! No pressure. Esther has a valid concern. In those days, if the king has not called you, and you try to approach him, his guards will kill you - unless he holds out his gold sceptor to you. Esther hadn't been called by the king for a month. This alone could be a lesson in itself - breakdown in communication in the marriage...

Anyway, when Esther voices her concerns of being killed to her cousin, he reminds her that she, also, is a jew and will perish - so it's either now or later. Valid point. So, why the fasting diet for all the jews? Did she think her people needed to get into shape to get ready for the battle?

The idea behind fasting is for prayer. More than just appreciating what God provides for us on a daily basis, but to remember to pray. Whenever those hunger pains kick in, you remember why you're hungry and you pray. It makes since that she would ask to do it for three days - I think during the first day you can probably go pretty easy without food and not feel it too much. During those second and third days though, I bet an awful lot of prayer was being lifted to God by the Jews. Esther had already given her plan, her intentions, so why all the prayer. I believe she needed courage.

When we take it all to God, even a decision that we've already been forced to make, won't His hand be in it regardless? God can take any situation and use it for His glory - a small little orphan girl like Esther - to save the desecration of a nation. God gives us the strength we need to get through every situation - it is supernatural strength. When you feel like the situation you're in is pushing down on you from every angle - why do you try to handle it alone? God is waiting for you to ask, willing to give, wanting to take it for you... Let Him.

Esther - What's Wrong?

Esther 4:1-5 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. But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 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. When Esther's maids and eunuchs 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. Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why.

Have you ever thought about the little kid in class who did something he wasn't supposed to and the teacher found out what it was and punished the whole class for it. I wonder what that little kid feels like - is he happy that he doesn't have to suffer by himself, or is the guilt eating away at him?

Mordecai has found himself in the same situation. Although his actions were righteous, he made the 'teacher' mad and now everyone is getting punished for it. He has the latter feelings in our previous example. He is wrought with grief over what is going to happen to all the Jews, and he's not afraid to share those feelings.

Let's look at Esther for a moment in these few verses. She's told of Mordecai's actions and sees that he's upset about something and the first thing she does is what? Sends out clothes for him to change into. Was he crying because he forgot to do his laundry? Was he crying because the sackcloth was itching him? No.

Like many of us, me especially, we want to solve a situation with a 'change of clothes': quick answer, a quick cover-up and hope it's enough to do the job. We look at the outside and make an assumption that we know what the cause of the problem is and work quickly to solve it.

Esther immediately realizes her mistake and sends out Hathach to fix it. There was no way for Esther to know exactly what was wrong with Mordecai until she talked to him about it and got to the heart of the problem.

Are we willing to do that? Are we willing to go beyond what we think is the 'quick fix'? Are we willing to take the time to stop assuming and get to the real issues that are bothering someone? Are we willing to do it for ourselves?

Esther - Roll the Dice and Take Your Chances

Esther 3:7-15 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar. Then Haman said to King Xerxes, "There is a certain people dispersed and scattered among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom whose customs are different from those of all other people and who do not obey the king's laws; it is not in the king's best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the royal treasury for the men who carry out this business." So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. "Keep the money," the king said to Haman, "and do with the people as you please." Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman's orders to the king's satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and little children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day. Spurred on by the king's command, the couriers went out, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered.

Isn't it ironic how God uses even the evil things people do for His purpose. Haman is 'rolling the dice of chance' to see when he should have all the jews killed. It turns out that 'chance' is telling him they should be killed 11 months from the time they consulted their 'sources'. As we will see, eleven months is just enough time for a retaliatory action to be put in place. Let's look at the king in these verses. Haman plans his evil idea. Obviously, nothing can be done without the approval of the king, but Haman has gotten himself in a pretty good position to make what he wants happen. He goes to the king, convinces him that there are a group of 'people' disregarding the ways of the kingdom and that they should be killed. Haman even says he'll pay the king to get this plan under way.

What does the king do, he says "okay". What happened to our earlier wisdom of 'innocent until proven guilty'? The king doesn't ask who these people are or what they had done or where they came from, he simply lets Haman take control. The king gives him his signet ring, which basically says - you can do whatever you want - perhaps he should've checked out freecreditreport.com before handing over his identity. Inevitably, Haman sends out his notice from the king to all the land saying, if you're a jew, you will die in eleven months.

But notice what happens in the last verse.... The kings entire kingdom had received the notice and wondered, "what the heck?" They had no idea why someone would do something like this to an entire people, for what seemed like no reason. But the king would not know the confusion of his people, Haman was too busy getting him drunk again.

If ever there was an example in the Bible of how hanging out with the wrong people will bring you down, this is it. The king had entrusted his entire credibility to a man that was in it for himself. He gave up his identity to a man whose only intention was to use it for his own jealous plot, no matter the cost to the king. King Xerxes let Haman confuse him by keeping him drunk and out of sorts so as not to figure out what Haman was up to.

We, as Christians, have one source that we can go to that will lead us down the right path - and that is Jesus. If your friends are not walking down that same path to head towards that same source - then why would they be walking beside you? Be wise in who you seek for friendship.

Esther - We Bow Down, or Not.

Esther 3:2-6 All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. Then the royal officials at the king's gate asked Mordecai, "Why do you disobey the king's command?" Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai's behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew. When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai's people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai's people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

Okay, so Haman is rewarded. We all know that sometimes life isn't fair - that it seems like the bad guys always win. However, there is something interesting here. Everyone was ordered to bow down to Haman - you know - full down on all fours in homage, and Mordecai refused to do it. Now, it doesn't say Mordecai shouted at the top of his lungs, "No, you jerk! you don't deserve this position and I'm not gonna bow to the likes of you!" He just wouldn't bow.

This was when the guys at the gate started asking Mordecai, "Why aren't you bowing?" To which he replied simply "I'm a Jew". While this may have been a simple reply - it certainly held a lot of weight. Simply stating that you were a Jew meant that you worshiped one God, The God, and would not bow to anyone, or anything else.

Now here's the thing, Haman didn't even notice that this was going on. He was so busy in 'Haman Land' enjoying his high position, that he didn't care what else was going on. Until, the guards came and tattled on Mordecai. Instantly Haman became angry. So angry that he didn't want to kill just Mordedai, but all Jews that believed this way. It was in his blood, remember.

I think we can still get something out of Haman's behavior. If we set our sights on God and do what He's called us to do - don't let all that's going on beneath you send you spiraling downward. Now we know that Haman wasn't a good person, but his actions of letting others' behavior anger him are ones we've all experienced. Just keep reaching for God and don't let the tattletales pull you down.

Esther - The Plot Thickens

Esther 3:1 After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

If you don't already know the story of Esther, Haman is not a good guy. His true nature will show shortly, but there is so much inside this one verse that to ignore it would be to miss the huge relevance that it shows. Let me tell you a story:

A long time ago, there was a man by the name of Moses. He was leading God's people through the wilderness. It was a hard time - people complained, they kept doubting God, even miracle after miracle. Then came a group of people called the Amalekites to destroy God's people (Exodus 17), He again performed another miracle and as long as Moses kept his hands in the air - the Israelites would win. At the end of this battle, God makes a promise that he will destroy the Amalekites. Now there's a nice promise, I will destroy the people who tried to destroy you. HMMMMMMM

Then, years pass and a man named Saul has been told that he will be king, and been told by God to destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15) - Here we go - now they will be destroyed, promise fulfilled. God tells Saul to kill everyone but do not touch their stuff. However, Saul did not 'completely' obey - He killed everyone - BUT the king, King Agag, and kept just a few cows and sheep. What's the big deal, right?

Here's the deal - and we see it in Verse 1 of Chapter 3 of Esther: Haman - the Agagite - a descendent of King Agag - who was, by order of God, supposed to be killed by Saul years ago.

There is no choosing when it comes to being obedient to God. This is such a hard lesson to learn. If it's 'partial' obedience - then it is "TOTAL DISOBEDIENCE". Either we choose to follow God and do what He tells us, or we are not followers of God. We do not get the option to pick and choose which things we like and which ones we don't.

The question is, are we willing to do everything God tells us?