For Such a Time as This: Esther Sets the Trap
Esther 5
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church
8-30-2020
For Such a Time as This
At the end of last week’s sermon, we were left on the edge of our seats.
Mordecai had challenged Esther with these famous words:
“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. (Esther 4:13-14)
Esther lived in two different worlds. She is Hadassah, the cousin of Mordecai. And she is Queen Esther, the wife of the king.
Mordecai tells her that the days of trying to straddle that line are over. She must choose, the fate of the Jewish people depends on her.
Mordecai understood the stakes. The entire Jewish population was at risk of being annihilated. This was no time for half-hearted excuses.
First, he reminds her that the palace will not protect her. Sooner or later, someone will discover her identity and she will be slaughtered like all the rest.
If she someone manages to go undetected, then her heart is as good as dead. She has betrayed her family legacy and her people.
Mordecai tells Hathak in no uncertain terms that deliverance will come, whether through Esther or from “another place.” This is as close as the book of Esther comes to saying the name of God.
Mordecai knows the covenant promises of God to protect his people and he is trusting that God is working behind the scenes to get them out of this mess.
He then utters some of the most famous words in all the Bible:
“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
God had been working quietly behind the scenes, moving Esther into place as queen, to bring rescue His children from Haman’s plans of genocide.
Will she step into her purpose and fulfill her destiny?
She tells Mordecai to gather the Jews and fast for her. She will also fast with her attendants, which means they will know that she’s Jewish, and at the end of three days, she will go before the king uninvited.
She understand the gravity of the moment.
If she doesn’t intercede for her people, 15 million men, women, and children, including her, will die.
If she takes the risk, breaks protocol, and the king doesn’t raise the golden scepter, she will have her head cut off.
What a choice!
But she has made her choice. Hadassah answers Mordecai with these courageous, faith filled words “If I perish, I perish.”
What’s going to happen? Last week, I promised you the rest of the story.
We are going to cover two chapters this morning, so let’s dive right in.
Turn with me to Esther 5.
Prayer
Esther Survives
“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.” (Esther 5:1-2)
Three days of fasting and waiting before the Lord had passed and Esther put on her royal garments, literally she “put on royalty.”
The king’s hall was a magnificently adorned with 36 pillars that were 65 ft high. The hall provided an unobstructed view of the king sitting on his royal throne.
When you entered the hall, you were to prostrate yourself before the king because, after all, he was known to be a “god.”
Notice that he saw “Queen Esther.” For the rest of the book, the author will call her Queen Esther.
When Xerxes saw her standing in the court, he was “please with her.” She received grace and obtained his favor from him.
Remember, he hadn’t seen her in 30 days. Maybe he thought to himself, “Wowza! I had forgotten how beautiful she is when she’s in her royal robes!”
After holding out the scepter to spare her life, Esther approaches and follows protocol, and touches the tip of the scepter.
She is being respectful of protocol and the king. She is not a cowering young girl but a calm, confident queen who is setting a plan in motion to save her people.
The Invitation
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.” (Esther 5:3-5)
The king is curious. What is so pressing that she would risk getting her head chopped off?
He tells her that the sky's the limit, up to half the kingdom would be hers. In other words, “I’m in a good mood, try me.”
This of course is a figure of speech. But the king did get into trouble when he said this to his daughter-in-law, who was also his lover, who was also his niece. But’s for an episode of Jerry Springer.
At this point, we expect Esther to boldly to tell the king everything about Haman’s evil plot and how it would effect her and her people.
Instead, she invites him to a dinner…oh, yeah and bring Haman along as well.
What? What is going on here.
Esther is being subtle and shrewd. This was going to be a hard sell and she needed to make sure that he couldn’t say no.
She would be asking him to revoke an irrevocable law.
She would have to admit that she had been deceiving him all along.
He would realize that he would lose face and a whole lot of money.
And she would be playing chess against Haman, her people’s dreaded, cunning enemy.
This would take wisdom. And self control.
Notice the banquet is already prepared which means she cooked the food while fasting!
The king loves feasts, especially ones in his honor. He directs the servants to bring Haman at once.
Another Banquet?
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 5:5b-8)
The meal was finished and the king and Haman were having after dinner drinks when Xerxes again asks Esther what she is up to.
The answer? She points her finger at Haman and tells the king that he is trying to kill her entire people. She then kicks him in the face…
Nope. She…wait for it…invites them to another dinner party!
What? Did she lose her nerve? Did she chicken out?
Or was something else going on behind the scenes? Maybe there needed to be a certain timing to this whole plan.
Haman’s Rage
So far, the author has focused on Esther but now they turned the spotlight on Haman.
“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.” (Esther 5:9-10)
Haman wobbled home happy on tipsy legs. Nothing could kill his mood. He was the only guest of the king and queen for not one, but two, dinner banquets! He was flying high.
That is until he saw Mordecai. As he was leaving the palace, everyone who saw him rose or bowed and trembled his presence.
Everyone except Mordecai! I can just imagine Mordecai standing with his arms crossed just shaking his head.
Remember, that Haman and the Hebrew word for “rage” should very similar.
Haman was beside himself. He was important. He was second in command! He would wait for it but Mordecai would pay!
Haman’s Ego
A little drunk and feeling very important, he calls together his wife and friends for a speech about himself.
“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.” (Esther 5:10-13)
There’s nothing like listening to a drunk narcissist ramble on about how great he is. He’s a legend in his own mind.
There was a song popular in the 1970s that Haman would have liked,
“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble
When you’re perfect in every way
I can’t wait to look in the mirror
I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must must be an incredible man
O Lord is hard to humble
But I’m doing the best that I can.
He’s so rich, and he has so many sons, (like his wife didn’t know), and Xerxes had honored him sooooo much.
Now Esther is honoring me as well, inviting me to two dinners with just her and the king.
He should be riding high but there is a fly in the ointment and his name is Mordecai, “that Jew.”
As long as Mordecai is at the king’s gate, Haman has no chance for happiness. His pride, his ego, cannot allow even one person to disrespect him.
The Counsel
Finally getting fed up with his constant complaining about Mordecai, his wife and advisors propose a plan.
“His wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a pole set up, reaching to a height of fifty cubits, and ask the king in the morning to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then go with the king to the banquet and enjoy yourself.” This suggestion delighted Haman, and he had the pole set up.” (Esther 5:14)
Their advice? Set up a 75 foot pole in the front yard. That’s seven and half stories high!
Go to the king early in the morning and get permission to have Mordecai impaled on it.
Then go to the banquet and eat drink and be merry.
This idea made Haman exceedingly happy and he stayed up all night erected this pole for Mordecai’s murder.
Haman doesn’t know that Mordecai is the Queen’s cousin / guardian and he has no way of knowing what was going to happen the next morning that would change everything!
A Sleepless Night
“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.” (Esther 6:1-3)
I’ve dealt with insomnia my life, even as a kid. I’ve learned every trick in the book and one of them is to read something really boring.
That night, literally the text says that “sleep fled” from the king. So he had his attendant bring in the book of the chronicles and read him a bedtime story.
The king would have loved this story because it was all about him! As the servant droned on and on, the king suddenly sat up in bed.
He remembered that assassination plot. What was it, about five years ago? Those guys got what they deserved.
And what did Mordecai get? According to the book, absolutely nothing.
This was a serious breach of protocol. Other individuals who had saved the king’s life had received government positions or tracts of land.
He realized that he needed to make this right.
Someone is Waiting for You King
"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 impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up 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? (Esther 6:4-7)
The king hadn’t slept all night. Neither had Haman.
Haman was busy supervising the building of a 75 foot tall pole and intended to impale Mordecai on it that morning. He just needed to get the king’s permission. He’s done this before. Should be a problem.
He showed up before dawn to make sure he was the first in line to see the king in order to make his request.
There are some many coincidences happening in these verses. Xerxes just happened to not be able to sleep.
While reading the book of the chronicles, the servant just happened to read about Mordecai saving the king’s life.
The king, as usual, has a hard time thinking for himself.
And then, the way the king asks the question - What should be done for the man the king delights to honor? He doesn’t mention Mordecai.
Haman must have smiled from ear to ear. Who would Xerxes want to honor more than me?
How to Honor a Hero
“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!’” (Esther 6:7-9)
A royal robe. A royal horse, wearing a crown no less! A noble man leading the way proclaiming, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
Doesn’t this sound like Haman would actually like to be…king? I wonder if Xerxes caught that idea.
You Want me to Do What?
Esther is a book of reversals of comic proportions.
“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.” (Esther 6:10)
What? Excuse me? Are you kidding?
The king is not kidding. The order is immediate - “go at once,” precise, “do just as you have suggested”, and carries a warning, “Do not neglect…”
Can you imagine what was going on in Haman’s mind? What went through Mordecai’s mind?
Did Mordecai enjoy his joy ride? Did he aggravate Haman? Did Haman yell through clenched teeth? I wonder what the horse thought of all this?
[1:33:27 - 1:37:08 - One Night with the King]
Haman is Doomed
“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.” (Esther 6:12-14)
Haman returned to his house, his head covered. The same house and the same people that listened to him rant the night before about how great he was and his plan to kill Mordecai the Jew.
He recounts what happened instead and his wife basically tells him he is doomed. Even the Persians understood there was something extraordinary about this Jewish people and they seemed to survive and thrive no matter who opposes them.
At this, the king’s eunuch’s knock on the door and hurry him to the second banquet.
Things are about to go from bad to worse for Haman the Horrible.
Observation
Waiting on God
There is a classic song in which Elvis sang these words, “Wise men say / only fools rush in.”
Esther was changing, maturing, and made the wise decision to fast and wait on the Lord for three days.
We hate waiting. The rock theologian Tom Petty sang that the “waiting was the hardest part.”
We are a microwave society who get road rage when we have to wait in traffic. We get annoyed at the workers and fellow customers when we have to wait in line. We get furious when we have to wait on hold forever.
Esther didn’t just let her emotions overwhelm her and impulsively went directly to the king. She didn’t quite understand it but there was a timing to this whole plan that seemed to be out of her control.
Abraham waited 25 years for the child that God had promised.
Jacob waited for 14 years to marry Rachel.
Jacob waited two years in prison.
Job waited for God to reply to his cries of confusion.
David waited years between being anointed king and finally becoming king.
Paul waited 14 years before he went to Jerusalem to tell the other apostles what he had been preaching.
Jeremiah wrote these words when surveying the ruins of his beloved Jerusalem:
“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)
Maybe you are in a season of waiting right now. Maybe you are waiting for a prayer to be answered. Maybe you are waiting for healing. Or for a husband or wife. Or for the pregnancy test to finally come up positive. Or for your child to come back home. We are all waiting for Covid to be over.
When we came back from Florida, I couldn’t find a job. I ended up helping to open a hotel in Pontiac. I prayed and waited for the next step.
There were days when I was calm and just knew that God was at work behind the scenes. I faced the day with great anticipation and expectations.
There were other days when the waiting would get to me and I would freak out.
This week, I asked this question on Facebook, “What’s the hardest thing about waiting on God?”
Here are some of the answers:
trying to stay focused on God
Not knowing the outcome
Trusting that God is really working in the silence
Wanting to take action myself
Not allowing fear to enter in
Not knowing how or when God will answer
Not panicking
Dealing with the confusion and doubt
Feeling that He is not listening or that maybe I’m asking the the wrong questions
My dear friend Dr. Genie, who waited 30 years on Mr. Right (Tommy) wrote these profound words:
Waiting allows for your internal negative belief system to "fill in the gaps" so you believe the lies Satan tells you and project that onto God. I've, God doesn't love me .. He can't use me... I'm worthless...
Paul Tripp writes that:
“Waiting is not about what you get at the end of the wait; it’s about what you become as you wait.”
According to Eric Spier, “Waiting reveals our true motives and transforms our character. Waiting builds intimacy and dependency with God.”
Scott Hubbard lists four prayers that you can pray while you are waiting:
Strengthen me to wait patiently
This is so hard to pray!
David wrote:
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)
Paul told the believers at Colosse:
“ We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.” (Colossians 1:10-12)
“God, I don’t exactly know what’s going on right now. I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to be in this season. But I trust You. You are good and I know that you are working behind the scenes for my good and Your glory. I wait in faith.”
2. Awaken me to today
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
Hubbard writes:
We need God to awaken us to today. Today, God’s mercies came up with the sunrise (Lamentations 3:22–23). Today, the heavens sing of his beauty (Psalm 19:1). Today, God rehearses the story of his love (Romans 5:8). Today, we have a cross to pick up (Luke 9:23). Today, we have people to listen to, serve, and forgive (Colossians 3:12–13). Today, we have good works to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” (Psalm 40:1-3)
3. Keep me from foolish shortcuts
In I Samuel 13, King Saul is waiting for Samuel the priest to offer the sacrifices before they go into battle. Samuel is running late and Saul decides, “What’s the big deal? I’m king. Can’t I step in and play priest just this once?”
Well, it was a big deal and the kingdom was eventually given to a young shepherd boy named David.
How do we do this in our culture? One of the most common answers to my Facebook questions was the temptation to take matters into your own hands.
Instead of waiting patiently for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, his wife suggested that he sleep with their servant girl, setting off a disaster whose effects are still being felt today.
Maxine and I spent much of our adult lives ministering to teenagers. We have encouraged the girls to wait for God’s best. Satan wants to give you bologna on the floor. Don’t settle for that! God wants to give you a steak dinner at the fancy table.
But, as these young women grow into adulthood, and they wait for “Mr. Right,” satan throws as much bologna as he can at them.
And it breaks our heart when we see one of our girls settle for a bologna guy just because they are tired of waiting.
I love what one of my former students said,
“I love coffee and I want it right away. However if I wait for the coffee to be prepared just right with the grounds and the hot water and then adding the creamer - it is oh so heavenly.
I don’t have to wait…I could just eat the grounds…then drink the creamer and hot water…and that’s not yummy….”
“Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. “(Psalm 25:3)
4. Remind me of what I’m really waiting for
Hubbard reminds us that we We are waiting for a new world, where righteousness bursts through air and sky (2 Peter 3:13). We are waiting for a new body, finally delivered from death and decay (Romans 8:23). We are waiting for a new power, when sin will lose its last hold on us (Galatians 5:5).
If you are in a season of waiting right now, let these words from Isaiah encourage you:
“Those that wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength
They will mount up with wings like eagles;
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.” - Isaiah 40:31
When we wait, we gain new strength. We exchange our weakness for His strength.
We get a new perspective. Just like eagles can spot a fish from a mile away, waiting helps us to see things differently.
We store up extra energy. We will run and not get tired.
Deepen our determination to persevere. We will walk and not become weary.
Chadwick Boseman was diagnosed with Stage Four colon cancer four years at the age of 38. He knew the diagnoses wasn’t good. Was did he do while he was waiting?
He starred in Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers:Endgame, 21 Bridges, and De Five Bloods. And he has another movie coming out on Netflix.
What can we do while we are waiting? Esther fixed an entire feast, while she was fasting!
Remember that God is always doing 10,000 things and you may be aware of three of them. - John Piper
God is working quietly behind the scenes for your good and His glory.
Wait with expectation. God can be trusted. Don’t give up hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” (Psalm 130:6)
Put your hope in His word.
From age 71-91 George Müller read his bible cover to cover only 5 times...A YEAR!
Five times through every single year! 100 times in the final season of his life. You think he regretted that when he met his King?
“I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)
Esther wisely waited on God’s timing. She invited Haman and Xerxes to another feast. She had no idea about Haman’s plans to kill Mordecai.
God took it from there.
[You Tube - Unspoken “Reason”]
God’s Timing
God has a perfect timing, even in His rescue mission to save us:
Paul wrote to the Romans:
“When we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners who had no use for him.” (Romans 5:6, NLT)
And remember what we studied in Galatians:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4)
Ending song: I Will Wait for You
