Bible Wives

Scripture: Esther 4:15-5:3

C.I.: Esther

Last week we saw that the king's second in command had with the king's permission written a royal edict commanding the death, annihilation and destruction of all the Jews. Queen Esther (a Jew but one secretly) is now going to go to the king to get it reversed!

I. The Trials and Tribulations of a Beauty Queen – Part 2, (Esther, Chapters 5-10)

A. Chapter 5 – A Delightful Banquet and a Sour Attitude

1. ( v. 4) “And Esther said, ‘If it please the king, may the king and Haman come this day to a banquet that I have prepared for
him.' Then the king said, ‘Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.'”
a. Clearly, God has granted Esther favor before the king.
1) Remember, Mordecai wanted Esther to immediately petition the king on behalf of the Jews.
2) In general, men have a “frontal assault” mentality. But Esther has a different/better plan!

b. Esther has been transformed from a fearful woman into a queen of bold character. But this only happens after she spends time in the presence of God and becomes totally dependent upon Him!!!
1) Our lives today are transformed in the same way. ( Gal. 5:22-23 ), “But the fruit of the Spirit...”
2) Yet spiritual fruit will not grow in our lives as long as we do the gardening ( dependence )!
3) ( Jn. 15:1-2, 4-5 ), “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit… Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so
neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
4) Esther achieves success because she places herself solely in the hands of God!

2. ( v. 6-8 ), “As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, for it shall be granted to
you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.' So Esther answered and said, ‘My petition
and my request is: if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition to do what I
request, may the king & Haman come to the banquet which I shall prepare for them, & tomorrow I will do as the king says'”
a. Why not tell the king at the first banquet? Clearly this heightens the tension found in this book.
1) A woman of understanding will know what is required to gain her husband's support.
2) Whatever the case, we will find God use the interval to accomplish His own purpose!

3. When Haman leaves the banquet his path again crosses Mordecai (who still won't bow). Haman returns home and complains to his wife about this. She offers some not so sage counsel, ( v. 14 ), “There Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, ‘Have a gallows 50 cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it, then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.' And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.”
a. How high a price are you willing to pay for your pride? In the case of Haman it is 50 cubits (~75 feet)!
1) The scriptures are replete with examples and warnings regarding the danger of “pride”!
2) ( Quote Pro. 16:18; I Tim. 3:6; I Jn. 2:16 ), “Pride goes before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction.” – “…and let an elder not be a new convert, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.” – “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”



B. Chapter 6 – Honoring Mordecai

1. The sleepless night, ( vs. 1-3 ), “During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of
records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were door keepers, that they sought to lay hands on King Xerxes. And the king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?' Then the king's servants said,‘Nothing has been done for him.'”
a. This goes back to an account found in Esther 2:19-23 .
1) While we may at times feel forgotten for what we have done – God doesn't forget!
2) ( I Pt. 5:6 ), “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will exalt you at the proper time .”

b. The king asks who is in court. Haman was coming in to ask the king if he could hang Mordecai.
1) Xerxes asked Haman what should be done to honor someone whom the king wants to honor?
2) Of course, with Haman's pride he thought the king was talking about him.
3) So he says to bring a robe, a horse and a crown all used by the king. And let that person be lead through the town having someone cry out, “Thus it shall be done for the man whom the king
desires to honor,” ( v. 9 )
4) Imagine Haman's surprise when King Xerxes says, “…do so for Mordecai the Jew; do not fall short of anything you have said,” ( v. 10 ).

c. After complaining to his wife, she truly warns him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him,” ( v. 13 ).

C. Chapter 7 – Hanging Haman

1. Esther has to be extremely careful. How can she have Haman punished for a plan the king approved? At the banquet Xerxes again asks Esther, “…what is your petition? What is your request?” ( v. 2 ).
a. Notice Esther's response, ( vs. 3-4 ), “ ‘If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me as my petition and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I and my people to be destroyed, to be killed, to be annihilated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.'”
1) Note the queen's strategy; give the king what he likes (banquet 2x), shows he respect for him!
2) Esther did what Vashti didn't, ( Eph. 5:33 ), “Let each wife see to it that she respect her husband.”

b. Remember the quote given by the feminists? (Give it) Now who has proven to be the wiser??!
1) Yet is not Esther an even more revolutionary woman, since she out-witted evil and powerful
men and lived to write a decree establishing a Jewish holiday celebrating that fact?!

c. ( vs. 5-6 ), “Then King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thus?'
Esther said, ‘A foe & an enemy is this wicked Haman!' Then Haman became terrified before the king & queen.”
1) This is the moment of truth! Will Xerxes punish Esther for her lack of respect or Haman?!!!

2. ( vs. 7-8 ), “The king arose in his anger from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg
for his life from Queen Esther… When the king returned from the palace garden, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, ‘Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?'”
a. Protocol demands no one be allowed alone with king's wife (Haman should have left).
1) Perhaps he “was falling” because of too much wine. Or maybe he was on his knees begging.
2) Either way, Haman provided the king with all the excuse that he needed.
3) ( v. 8b ), “As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.”

b. Always remember, the people you step over on your way up the ladder of success, are the same people you will meet on the way down! Haman was an arrogant man, and probably not well liked!
1) ( vs. 9-10 ), “Then Harbonah, one of the king's eunuchs who were before the king said, ‘Behold indeed, the gallows standing at Haman's house 50 cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king!' And the king said, ‘Hang him on it.' So they hanged Haman on the gallows
he had made for Mordecai.”
2) What incredible irony in his chapter! Both Haman & Esther beg for their lives. Mordecai doesn't fall before Haman, but ultimately he falls before a Jew (and a woman at that!).


D. Chapters 8-10 – The Victory of God's People

•  Haman is now gone but his decree for the destruction of the Jews still remains.
a. Esther begs for the life of her people. But a decree written in the king's name and sealed with his signet ring could not be revoked!
1) Yet the king gives permission for Esther and Mordecai to write another decree.
2) For the king has elevated Mordecai to take the place of Haman (2 nd in the kingdom!).
3) ( 8:10-12 ), “And he wrote in the name of King Xerxes, and sealed it with the king's signet ring and sent letters by couriers. In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right to assemble and to defend their lives … on the 13 th day of the 12 th month.”

b. The Jews rejoiced at this and when the day came they defended themselves and killed 75,000 enemies!
1) When Xerxes asked Esther did she have any further requests?
2) ( 9:13-14 ), “Then said Esther, ‘If it pleases the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today … So the king commanded that it should be done so.”
3) Therefore, in Susa, the people were allowed to “finish the job” against their enemies!

c. ( 9:20-22 ), “Then Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews who were living in the provinces of King Xerxes, obliging them to celebrate the 14 th day of the month Adar, and the 15 th day of the same month, annually, because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday.”
1) This holiday (Purim) is the first Jewish holiday which was not inspired by God.
2) Hanukkah is the 2 nd .

CONCLUSIONS:

•  God's people prayed for the success of the queen and God blessed them by giving them even more than they requested. The queen, on her part, placed her life completely in the hands of God. Today God still wants His people to depend completely upon Him that He also may bless us.

•  God allows evil people to achieve success so that He may bring them down when the time is right.“Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself!” (Never was this statement more true than in Haman's case!)

•  While the proud will be brought low, God will elevate those who humble themselves before Him, (e.g. Esther, Mordecai)!

•  God blesses those who trust in Him completely! If you are a Christian and have been struggling, perhaps it is time to humble yourself before God and depend completely upon Him!

If you are not a Christian but desire to become one that God may bless you . . . Mark 16:16!