God Has A Plan Series

We are going to see the remarkable work of God’s providence today.

• In chapter 6 the tables are turned and evil is overcome by good.

• And it happened almost imperceptibly, without us noticing it was coming or expecting it to turn out this way.

• Let’s read the entire chapter – Esther 6:1-14.

King Xerxes could not sleep, after his banquet with Queen Esther and Haman, and before their second banquet.

• The author did not tell us why Esther has chosen not to make her request to the King at the first banquet, and instead asked for another banquet the next day.

• She might have felt afraid, the time was not right, or the King was not in the right mood.

• Whatever the reason, she delayed it for one more day. And it turned out to be significant. God was in it, although we might not understand.

I like the way Charles Spurgeon expressed it:

• “God was in it; it was not the right time to speak, and therefore she was led to put off her disclosure. I dare say she regretted it, and wondered when she should be able to come to the point, but the Lord knew best.”

• At times when things did not turn out right, we felt that we’ve messed up, or that we should have done this or that, but later on, we could see on hindsight that it was alright.

• God was in it. The delay turned out to be good.

The King’s sleepless night became a crucial turning point in the story.

• He could not sleep and asked for the book of the chronicles to be brought in and read to him. It’s the record of activities during his reign.

• They could have opened the book to any page (and it has the records of Xerxes’ 12 years reign up to this point), and yet it was opened to the place where they recorded Mordecai’s good deed.

• About 5 years ago, after Esther was made Queen (2:16 7th yr; 3:7 12th yr) Mordecai foiled a plot to assassinate the King.

By God’s providence, the King was informed now of this otherwise unknown and unrewarded official who has done a great thing in saving his life.

• Nothing was done to honour and recognise Mordecai then.

• Even this oversight has to be ordained. It was a divinely designed lapse!

• If Mordecai had been duly honoured then, this would be a non-event. There won’t be any need to do anything now. It would just be another record in the chronicles.

But now, something has to be done to rectify this oversight, especially so because this man has saved the King’s life.

• He needs to be rewarded properly, and that set the stage for the next turn of events. The ball has started rolling.

The King asked, “Who is in the court?” (6:4), not in view of Haman stepping in but to get someone to do something for Mordecai.

• Who is in the court that I can call to talk about this? Haman happened to be there!

• We do not have the timing here; could be morning by now. Or it would be really odd to have Haman coming in the middle of the night wanting to talk to the King.

6:4b Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace (almost like by chance) to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows he had erected for him.

• Whatever the time of the day, the timing was still nothing short of being miraculous.

• Haman was not supposed to be here until the evening banquet but he has to come, he cannot wait, because he has an ‘urgent’ agenda.

• Both of them met at an unscheduled and unarranged meeting, and with contrasting agenda – the King wanting to honour Mordecai and Haman wanting to hang Mordecai.

And it was no coincidence! If this Book of Esther shows us anything, it shows us that God manages the affairs of men, without their knowledge, down to the details.

• Esther wasn’t lucky to be queen. Mordecai wasn’t lucky to have overheard the assassination plot. It wasn’t an unfortunate oversight that he wasn’t rewarded then.

• It wasn’t by chance that Esther prepared a banquet and then delayed her request. It wasn’t a coincidence that Haman happened to be in the court at this time of the day.

• All these events were orchestrated by God, without the prior knowledge of men.

6:6a 6 When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?"

• “Luckily the King did not reveal his name.” Again it was not luck but God’s providence that the King did not reveal any name. The ball was kept rolling.