Bibledoorajar Examines Responses to Esther's Request

     Esther had made her request for rescue known to the king in the presence of Haman and the king's attendants. What was the response of the king? It was one of outraged disbelief. Who was this man who could stoop so low as to demand the eradication of the Jews of his kingdom? Who was the ruthless enemy Esther was talking about? And, where is this man who dared to do such a thing?

Esther looked at the king and said, "it is this wicked Haman!" While the king tried to take this revelation in, the scripture says that Haman was filled with sudden fright and horror. He stood terrified before the king AND the queen. But the king was filled with rage. He got up and moved out into the palace garden.

Haman begged Esther to spare his life because he knew for certain the king's rage would lead to his death. In his begging he fell down on Esther's couch. Just then the king returned. He yelled, "Are you even going to rape the queen right here in the royal palace, before my very eyes?" Just then the king's attendants covered Haman's head with a hood and told the king that Haman's gallows which were prepared for the innocent Mordecai were available if the king gave the word.

"Stay sober, stay alert! Your enemy, the Adversary,
stalks about like aroaring lion looking for someone
to devour. Stand against him, firmin your trust....
after that, God, who is full of grace, the one who
 called you to his eternal glory in union with the
Savior, will Himself restore,establish and
 strengthen you and make you firm."

Excerpts from 1 Peter 8 &10

Just as the king left the handling of Haman to his attendants, God who is full of grace gives us strength to handle our enemies. And, there is a whole army of attendants within His kingdom who can assist us

in defeating our enemies if we ask them. Praise God!

Bibledoorajar Reminds the Reader that God is Still in Control

Here is a quick review of events that have previously happened in our story:

• Haman wears the king's ring and has established a decree that the Jewish peoples will be destroyed on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar across the king's 127 provinces
• Esther has found favor with the king and he has extended the gold scepter to her
• Mordecai has decreed that she may be in her position as queen because God has strategically placed her there to save her people
• All the people of God have been asked to pray and fast
• Esther has declared that she is willing to die trying to save her people
• The king has realized that Mordecai had not been rewarded for saving the king from a rebellious act
• He asked Haman how such a hero should be rewarded
• Haman, absorbed in himself and his plans, thinks the king is seeking to reward him
• But Haman now knows the hero is not him, it is Mordecai!

     The time has arrived for the King and Haman to attend Esther's second wine banquet.  As Haman and the king drank their wine, the king again said to Esther: "Whatever your request, Queen Esther, you will be granted it; whatever you want, up to half the kingdom, it will be done." I wish I had been there. Haman could not be made merry by the wine because of what he heard Esther tell the king.  I bet when he heard it he needed another drink! But as King Solomon's proverb says, the wine is pretty and red, but has the sting of an adder in the end. Here is what Haman heard Esther say over drinks:

"If I have won your favor, king, and if it pleases the king,

then what I ask to be given me is my own life and

the lives of my people. For we have been sold, I 

and my peple, to be destroyed, killed, exterminated.

If we had only been sold as men and women slaves, 

I would have remained quiet; since then trouble

would not have been worth the damage it would

have caused the king"(to repair-rap).

Esther 7:3-4

     The king is all ears now and demands to know who this ruthless enemy is! Can you imagine the look on Haman's face? Pass the wine please, I think Haman needs a drink!

Bibledoorajar Says, "You're Really In Trouble Now, Haman"

     The king's sleepless night paid off for Mordecai and brought about the beginning of Haman's end. While Mordecai was being received in court and enjoying all of its pleasures, Haman ran home like a "scalded dog". While the king was delighted to robe and court Mordecai, Haman found no support at all. When he told his wife and friends about the great reversal in the plans he had made, their response was not encouraging:

 "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall is a Jew, 

you will not get the better of him; on the contrary 

your downfall before him is certain."

Esther 6: 14

    How many times since the beginning has Satan fallen before THE JEW, the Son of Man to whom God gave authority over him? The Jew humbly lived out His authority and the crowds loved Him because He loved them and delivered them from many of their ills. But the "Hamans' despised him because he trapped them in their web of stupid logic over and over.  Boo! Hiss! to them!

"They brought the donkey and the colt and

put their robes on them, and Jesus sat on them.

Crowds of people carpeted the road with 

their clothing, while others cut branches

from the trees and spread them on the

road. The crowds ahead of Him and behind

Him shouted:

'Please! Deliver us!' 

to the Son of David;

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'

"You in the highest heaven!

Please! Deliver us!'

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city

was stirred. 'Who is this? they asked.

And the crowds answered.

'This is JESUS, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.

Matthew 21: 6: 11

     Have a great Easter and always remember the victorious One!'

Bibledoorajar Comments on A Sleepless Night

     "If you can't sleep, then get up and do something

instead of lying there worrying. It's the

worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep."

Dale Carnegie

     The king could not sleep. He got up and sent an attendant for the chronicles in which were written  the history and facts of his nation. These, being chronicles, were, of course, kept in chronological order. Chronicle after chronicle, and it just so happened that the attendant brought in the volume that recorded an event about Mordecai. Surely the Providence of God can override anything to see that His will is accomplished! As the attendant read, the king listened again to how Mordecai sent a warning of a plot to kill the king. What was done to reward this wonderful man. Nothing. Nothing?  Surely this oversight must be rectified.

     Honoring the brave and those who make valuable contributions to a society is still done in most civilized countries and in places of employment. Loyalty and excellence are premier values that all recognize. Jesus knows about your loyalty and valuable contributions to Him and the Bible says that those things one does in secret for Him will be rewarded openly (Matthew 6:6). He is just and true and it is a mistake to think that He is asleep at the wheel. The psalmist declared that the One who kept Israel neither slumbered nor slept. Sometimes it may appear that He sleeps because He is so long-suffering. However, this is not the case. Thomas Jefferson, concerned for America, made this comment: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever." It is a truism, our long-suffering God will "awake" and return in justice. Let us seek to serve him well now just as Mordecai did in the midst of evil.

 

Bibledoorajar Has a Look at Hypocrisy

...heard Jesus' teachings they scoffed at him. But he

responded: "You try to look good in the eyes of

men. But God sees your hearts. And what men think highly

of is a stench before God."

Luke 16: 14-15

Haman's desires about killing Mordecai were now visible in the gallows he had had built. No one around him spoke to him about the evil intent of his heart. However, those gallows made clear what he wanted and expected. Perhaps those close to Haman knew that whatever he did, he did with the intent of being praised by others. As long as they were not going to be hurt by his actions they gave him what he relished: attention and preeminence. But Mordecai did not give him what he relished and refused to be in cultural bondage to this man and his deceit. 

Haman has been asked by the king what reward the man who had helped the king should receive. Haman, thinking that there could not possibly be another that the king would want to honor more than him,  said this to the king:

For a man the king wants to honor, have royal robes brought

which the king himself wears and the horse the king

himself rides, with a royal crown on its head. The

robes and the horse should be handed over to one of the king's

most respected officials, and they should put the robes

on the man the king wants to honor and lead him on horseback

through the streets of the city, PROCLAIMING ahead of him. "This 

is done for a man whom the king wants to honor."

       

Jesus spent a lot of time trying to help people learn the importance of matching their public face with their inner heart. In Matt. 6:1 he says that we should "be sure that we do not do our acts of rightness before human beings with the INTENT of being seen by them. Otherwise your Father, the one in the heavens, will have nothing to do with it." In 6:2 he says that all of those who insist on having TRUMPETS  BLOWN before them will have received their reward. That recognition is what they wanted and that recognition is what they got--- along with an inflated ego. What my mother said must be true, "Nobody likes a show-off."

Bibledoorajar Comments on Haman' Fate

Gloom, despair and agony on me

Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

Gloom, despair and agony on me.

Buck Owens and Roy Clark as sung on

the T.V. show "Hee-Haw"

Haman left that first banquet thinking he was the luckiest guy in the world, the only man invited to the banquet beside the king. However, by the time he got home, having seen his arch nemesis, Mordecai by the gate, he was in the pits of despair. But his wife and friends console him and help him in problem solving. The best thing to do was to kill that Jew, after all, out of sight out of mind. This really appealed to Haman and as the murder of Mordecai came more into view, Haman became elated. That very evening he had a seventy-five foot gallows erected in his side yard and then at some time returned to the court.

In the meantime, over at the palace, the king awakened and, not being able to sleep ,sent for the royal records. As "heavenly coincidence" would have it, the attendant was reading about how Mordecai had saved the king's life by advising him of a plot to take the king's life. When the king inquired as to how Mordecai was rewarded he was told nothing had been done. He immediately sought to rectify the situation. Hearing that his "loyal" friend was in the courts, he sent for Haman. Without mentioning a name, the king asked Haman how he thought a loyal subject who had assisted the king should be rewarded. Thinking only that the king could be referring to him, Haman proposed a spectacular reward.

Haman acted only out of self-will. The truth about himself was concealed from him. His wife and friends had provided only ungodly counsel and that allowed the truth about Haman to remain concealed from him. No one in the group was thinking about upright behavior and no one was thinking about the God of the Jews. But that was a mistake as we will soon see.

"Don't demand an audience with the king's presence,

and do not claim a place among great men..."

Prov. 25:6

It is a good reminder that we are to serve humbly and that our Father will do the rewarding as He sees fit. "Lord, help us crucify our will and seek to serve as you would have us. Amen."

Bibledoorajar Loves the Revealed

     The king has become enthralled with Esther, the queen. He has brought the arch enemy of the Jews to her banquet as requested. However, the truth has been concealed from him and being queen did not guarantee respect if he should become angry with her. Vashti is certainly an example of how quickly a human, no matter the lofty position, can lose respect. One thing we know, Haman had no respect for Queen Esther. He was in attendance only to enhance himself and to further his heinous plan to destroy the Jews. At this first banquet Esther's plans remained concealed. Only Esther had clear knowledge that God secretly moves on behalf of His people among the nations. The banquet ended with the king not having become impatient with her and Ahaseurus and Haman have been asked to return for a second banquet.
By the second banquet it is clear that Haman had completely devalued God's people and their ability to have any intellectual abilities that could lead them to victory over his prowess and ability. In doing this he also devalued the primacy and sufficiency of their God. So still, the truth is concealed from some and revealed to another.  Our goal is to learn from Esther's story. While God's power may be concealed from some, believers are to understand God's provision with clarity. The first banquet forces the question: Is God present or not? Does the story move us to say YES! and to move us to reveal Him to others?  Is He on the Throne or not? The second banquest builds this tension. Though concealed, is God revealed to those who discern spiritual matters? Will deliverance, though hidden yet come?
     For some, Jesus was a good man, a prophet, but not the son of God. The truth is concealed from these people. But for many of us, through faith, study and understanding, we have come to know and believe the following as absolute truth:

For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead

bodily.

Colossians 2:9