Hello everyone.
In our last blog post we ended with the part of the story of Esther where the king held out his golden scepter to her. This act on the part of the king was highly significant, since anyone who entered, uninvited, to see the king would be put to death unless the king held out his golden scepter (Esther 4:11). The rest of our story comes from Esther chapters 5-10.
“Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.” Esther 5:3-4 (KJV)
The king and Haman attended the banquet and at the banquet the king again asked Esther what her request was. Esther responded that if the king and Haman would attend another banquet that she would hold, she would make her request there.
The king consented to this arrangement and Haman was overjoyed at the honor of being invited to a second feast with the king and queen. However, his anger towards Mordecai still burned in his heart.
He discussed the matter with his friends and his wife, and they counseled him to build gallows for Mordecai. Haman had the gallows made.
God is a wise God Who knows how to orchestrate matters. That night the king couldn’t sleep. He asked to have the “book of records of the chronicles” brought to him and they were read to him. Esther 6:1 (KJV) In these records was contained the account of how Mordecai had reported the dangerous plans of two of the king’s chamberlains who meant him harm. The king inquired and discovered that nothing had been done to honor Mordecai for this commendable deed. He began to think of what could be done to honor Mordecai.
As he was thinking these thoughts, Haman came to see the king. The king invited Haman to help him with his brainstorming on what to do to honor the man whom he wanted to honor. Haman was delighted to provide his input, thinking that the man whom the king had in mind was none other than himself (Haman).
Haman proposed that the man whom the king wanted to honor be dressed in the king’s own royal garments and be led through the city on the king’s own horse with the announcement; “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.” Esther 6:9 (KJV)
The king accepted this proposition, and commanded Haman to do all of this…for Mordecai. Haman complied. Afterwards, he went home in distress and updated his wife and friends on what had occurred. They said to him; “If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.” Esther 6:13 (KJV)
These words proved to be accurate. While Haman’s wife and friends were still talking, the king’s chamberlains came to hurry Haman on to the banquet with the king and queen. At the banquet, King Ahasueras again asked Queen Esther what her request was and she responded:
“If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.” Esther 7:3-6 (KJV)
In summary, Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had had built for Mordecai, and Mordecai was promoted. A new decree was written, which allowed the Jews to defend themselves against those who would seek to harm them.
The Jews were mightily saved from what would have been a terrible fate, and the people of the land developed a healthy respect for them. Mordecai became very well loved among the Jews, and he was respected in the land.
What lessons can be gained from this story?
- “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
Haman’s pride most definitely destroyed him. His plans to harm a man of God and the people of God backfired on him.
2. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.” Psalms 76:10 (KJV)
Haman’s anger against the people of God ended up, in a convoluted way, resulting in God being praised. God responded to Haman’s anger with a mighty display of His power.
3. “…Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10 (KJV)
“… Them that honour me I will honour…” 1 Samuel 2:30 (KJV)
God honored Mordecai because he refused to worship a man (Haman) and he chose to honor God instead.
I want to encourage all of you to take a serious look at the Sabbath truth. The Sabbath was instituted at creation (Genesis 2:1-3), We are reminded that God is the Creator in the Sabbath commandment in Exodus 20:8-11, and in Revelation 14:7, we are reminded to worship the Creator God.
The Sabbath contains God’s signature as Creator. It establishes the basis of His authority. Why is it, then, that most of the Christian world does not honor this commandment, of all of the commandments? There is another power, a power that is not God, who does claim to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, the day that most Christians today treat as the Sabbath.
I want to encourage all of you to study into the matter of the Sabbath vs. Sunday. It is a matter of authority: God’s vs. man’s. Whose authority will you choose?
Learn and Grow 4ever 