Epaggelia

Points from Est. 6:1-14, 7:3-10 & 8:1-8

On all the nights of good sound sleep that was provided for the King of a super-power in the whole wide world, why was it this particular night, before the 2nd banquet, that the King had sleep escape him? Obviously God is proving to us that His timing is more important than anything the King could arrange! Now the stage is set for Esther’s godly plan to be activated.

Wouldn’t you love to have seen the look on Haman’s face, when the King pronounced Mordecai as the recipient of the royal horse ride & parade of honor? (6:10) This is one reason, no one goes into the Kings inner court without permission, intimate knowledge for the King alone, and the other obvious reason is security, maintaining survival of the dynasty. Here, Esther’s plan is put into motion! Since she is a symbol of Christ to us, it is important for us to learn that Christ’s plan for our salvation is often worked out by the King of kings and Lord of lords. Do we quickly or slowly obey Christ in order to kill our own “Haman” inside? Haman is the symbol for sin or the devil. This is what God means when he says in Christ, “Pick up your cross!”, Luke 9:23. King Solomon teaches us that “our heart does devise our way, but it is the Lord that directs our footsteps”. Prv. 16:9. Mary the mother of Jesus repeated this truth from Hannah, which is true in this story of Esther. “God has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52) When Haman made the people of God his target, failure was certain for him. That is actually the message of Revelation, we win in Jesus, no matter how often or how big the enemy strikes.

What does the example of Haman’s begging posture towards Esther for a change of heart, teach Christians about God’s rule in the affairs of men & women? (7:7-8) Posture in prayer is important, it reflects the attitude of our heart in fervent prayer towards God. If we do not show what we know is in our heart, we deprive our self of His strength He wants to share with us.

Why did Haman fall victim to the Jewish proverb? “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him” (Prv. 26:27) Arrogant pride.

The irony of Haman’s gallows being the place of his own execution, is evidence for a God in existence that cares about our feelings and desire for respect and justice for his children who are oppressed by persecution. This is why Jesus taught the truth about our reason to rejoice in the face of trials for our faith, Matthew 5:10-12. Even after Haman was dead, a problematic threat still stood (3:13) The 13th day of their 12th month was certain to be a day of disaster for God’s children. 3 months had passed since the deadly directive had gone out to all 127 provinces (8:9). Do we see the posture of Esther begging for the King to revoke the edict of death, remind us of anything we need in prayer when we need real help from God to give us an escape? Read 1st Corinthians 10:11-14 and make an analogy. These circumstances all happening at the right time for Esther to save the Jews might be called by the skeptic, a coincidence, but a believer in God, will call it God’s gracious providence. When God steps into natural laws around us in a physical universe and our own personal lives to act miraculously, some people who witness it just doubt like the Pharisees and attribute it to chance or even the devil himself, (Mat. 12:24), and when God spoke to Jesus from heaven, they just said it had ‘thundered’, (John 12:29) Yes, for the hard-core skeptic, God can not leave enough footprints in the world to stir belief. But even without God making a mention of himself in this book, the eye of faith can see Him at work! Do you?