Today in God's Word—May 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
May 6, Esther 6
Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing you have mentioned.” - Esther 6:10
In some deserts of the world, scorching daytime high temperatures may fall to freezing overnight lows, with variations as great as 100 degrees in the 24 hour period. In some amusement parks, visitors wait in long lines to go up on a high platform and drop back to the ground in a controlled, simulated free fall. And more than a few investors have experienced “riches to rags” in a single day when a stock in which they were heavily invested lost almost all its value in a day of active trading. From express elevators in tall buildings to Olympic divers, there are many ways to go from high to low in a very short time.
The term "meteoric rise" describes a person's rapid ascent to fame, fortune or popularity. Chapter 6 is about Haman's "meteoric fall" from the heights of favor and privilege to the depths of humiliation and ruin. Like the character Alexander in Judith Biorst’s children's book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Haman had a very bad day indeed on the day described in Esther 6.
Did you ever read a bedtime story to your children to help them fall asleep? On the night between the two feasts Esther hosted for the king and Haman, the king was not able to sleep. So he called for his favorite bedtime story (the one about all the great things he had done) to be brought and read in his royal presence. When he heard the part about how Mordecai saved him from the assassination plot of two servants, the king wanted to know how Mordecai had been rewarded for his brave and timely action. When he heard that nothing had been done, he moved immediately to rectify that oversight. He asked who was out in the court and heard that Haman was there. The king brought him in and asked his lieutenant what he
would recommend as a reward for a man the king wanted to honor.
In a classic case of mistaken identity, Haman assumed he was describing for himself the honor he thought he would be shown. So he made up a real royal spectacle, complete with robes worn by the king, one of the king’s horses and a crown of honor, along with a crier who proclaimed the honoree’s favor with the king. Ahasuerus liked the plan and commanded Haman to immediately do it all--the robes, the horse and the crown and the parade proclaiming the king's favor. And the recipient of this high honor, designed by Haman and sanctioned by the king was... Mordecai! Haman did as the king commanded. But after the parade was over, he ran home crying with his head covered in humiliation.
On the day he expected to dine with the king and queen, he had been given the exact opposite of what he went to the palace to request. Instead of seeing Mordecai swinging from the high gallows, he was forced to lead a parade in Mordecai's honor. I wonder if Haman thought, "It couldn’t get any worse than this." But it would. As humiliating as that was, the worst was yet to come for the evil adversary of Mordecai and the Jews.
Doesn't Haman's story here remind you of Solomon's proverb about pride? "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Haman tested positive for pride and haughtiness. And the fall and destruction had not hit bottom yet.
Although we've mentioned that God is not named in the book of Esther, isn't it obvious that all this didn't “just so happen?” Was Ahasuerus' insomnia, Mordecai's name in the book that was read and the timing of this event on the eve of Haman coming to request that Mordecai be executed all just coincidence? Or was the hand of God guiding the course of events that would save the Jews and destroy their enemy?
Ahasuerus wasn't the first or the last pagan king God would use to save and bless his people. Do you doubt that God works through the circumstances and situations of our lives to accomplish his purpose for us? It is how he makes "all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, for those who are called according to his purpose." You and I should trust him to be at work in our lives as well.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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