Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face (Esther 7:8).

When King Ahasuerus returned from the garden and found Haman draped over the couch next to his wife Esther, he believed Haman was trying to rape her. In point of fact, Haman was merely appealing to the queen for mercy. But before he could utter a word of explanation, his face was covered and he was taken and hung on the gallows. I believe that all of this was from the LORD. 

Today, I want to make an observation about human temperament. I've noticed that when a person is very angry with someone, their judgment gets distorted so that every attitude and action by the other person appear to them to be purely evil. On the other hand, when a person delights in someone, every attitude and action by the other person appear to them to be purely good.

People, whether intentional or not, have a tendency to create a black and white framework for judging one another. Consider those that hate someone. Nothing that the other person does has any redeeming worth. Even the good that he does is interpreted as following evil motives. As they spew their seemingly unending criticism of the other person, they pause to give token admission to a common humanity, before continuing on with their tirade. When some good is mentioned, there is a deaf silence or a blank stare, as if such observations are an unwelcome interruption to an otherwise unbroken stream of evil. With such a framework for judgment, how can there ever be healing or reconcilation?

Perhaps this was the intent of Jesus' words, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1). When people judge without good discernment, they do more harm than help. They forget that the goal of judgment, particularly in the community of faith, is restoration and reconciliation, not condemnation. They fail to understand that common humanity means a shared depravity, which is not token but real, such that before a holy God neither they nor the other person possesses any good. Without such discernment, then, it is better not to judge at all.

Now, clearly King Ahasuerus did not have discernment in his judgment of Haman, but in spite of his rashness, God's will was done.

In the reign of Rehoboam, he foolishly followed the counsel of his younger friends over the counsel of his father's elder advisors. Rehoboam, like Ahasuerus, lacked discernment. But again, this was from the LORD (1 Kings 12:15,24).

Friends, these days I have sought to mediate tension between some strong personalities. I have a clear preference for one, but I see a black and white framework being cast by each side. It is a frightful and distressing testament to our human depravity. I have no skill to unravel twisted souls, but I have daily lifted each one to God, who alone brings true light into our darkness.

The Book of Esther is a witness to God's amazing providence, that even when everything seems wrong, God can turn it right. There is nothing too hard or out of reach for God; therefore, a Christian's best course is always to trust in the Lord and commit his every way to Him:

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
    and he will establish your plans (Proverbs 16:3).

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun (Psalm 37:3-6).

Esther 6

¹³ And Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.”

How interesting his cohorts saw this. It is as if God put it in them to foretell; just as he put everything else in motion. His wife and Zeresh had enough respect of Mordecai perhaps specifically the Jewish people since they point out that he is “of the Jewish people.” Their reputation precedes the Jews.

How can you know if you are being worked against by God? If you are blessed enough to see God’s word, your actions in light of his will, then you can test whether you are destined to glory. If you can’t see God’s word, his will, like Haman, then you cannot know if God is with you or not. His friends and wife could see God’s word was with the Jews, and they could see and knew Haman's wishes to end them. They were blessed to see God was not with him.

We must know God’s written word, it is the means we test all spirits. This is how we can have knowledge of him. We must live and respond to life and God would have us responds. This is how we can have wisdom, the fear of him. In every encounter we can know where we in God’s word, and therefore can know if our trial is for our good or if we are standing on a head on collision with God, and should quickly determine how to repent.

From verse 14 on, it was downhill for Haman.

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 Esther 9

26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them

“Pur” meaning “lot” as in a lot that can be received or… allotted.

Satan had allotted for the Jews destruction but in the smooth way that only God can do, the lot was reversed, and Goodness was allotted to the Jews.

God's covenant with Abraham included this promise:

I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you (Genesis 12:3).

Many nations have been overthrown because of their mistreatment of Israel, including the great nations of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon and even smaller related nations like Edom, Moab and Ammon. God chose Abraham and the people that would come from him (i.e. Israel) to be His representatives on the earth. Therefore, God took it upon Himself to preserve, protect, and avenge against any that would seek to harm His people.

In Esther we find the evil Haman seeking to harm the people of God. God returns the harm he intended upon his own head. 

Friends, Israel has not been rejected by God, even though the blessing of being God's people has been extended to us Gentile Christians, and we have been temporarily given a place of favor. Paul clearly writes that there is a future for Israel, for the promises He made to them cannot be revoked (cf. Romans 11:28-29). 

We should always pray for the peace of Israel and the restoration of His people. We should not be among those that disdain Israel and are their enemies. It is true today as it was when God first promised, He will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse them. 

Friends, as it has been noted, the name of God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther. For that matter, even prayer is not mentioned. Yet, it is not the only book where this is the case. Except for a somewhat questionable refrence in Song of Songs 8:6, God is not mentioned there either. The question is why?

The predominant answer I've read and heard is that it was unnecessary for God's Name to be mentioned in the book because His providence is clearly evident throughout the book. Yet, as one skeptic wrote, rather than seeing the hand of God, the Persians, among whom they lived at the time, may have attributed the deliverance of the Jews to one of their gods, or even to the hand of fate. Why would God leave room for this uncertainty?

I've not read or heard this anywhere, so please treat my thoughts on this matter with a grain of salt. 

Remember these words in Isaiah 6:9-10?

He said, “Go and tell this people:

Sometimes when God speaks to people, it is not always to reveal Himself. He speaks in such a way that some will see and others will not, some will hear and others will not. Isaiah was sent to preach a message that people would reject. They would hear it, but they would not understand it or believe it because their hearts were hardened.

Jesus cites Isaiah in Mark 4:10-12,

When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,

I know that the entire book of Esther doesn't contain any references to the LORD, but the ending still bothers me because of this.  Throughout the story, we see the providential hand of God upon the lives of all the main players. At the end, Esther, Mordecai and all the Jews are victorious.  The Feast of Purim is established to commemorate the victory and this holiday is still observed by Jews today. 

I was delighted in the deliverance of God's people from their enemies and even more so because God was in control of everything behind this great deliverance just as He saved them from the hands of the Pharaoh. It is strange, though, that I don't see the Name of God who is the deliverer but those of His human agents. For that reason, the canonicity of the book had been questioned by many biblical scholars in the past. Whether the name of God was mentioned or not in the book, we see clearly God's hands orchestrating the series of events that occurred. Does anything happen in our lives by chance whether it is favorable to us or not? The scripture says "NO" God who neither slumbers nor sleeps watches over us and uses even our mistakes or ill-intended actions to mold us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. We trust in Him not because of the abundant blessings that he has bestowed upon us but because of who HE is. Faithful One! May His name be praised, Amen.

Friends, we read in Esther 8:17, "Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them." Isn't it amazing how fortunes can turn on a dime. The largest of empires have crumbled after a single battle. The most stable of companies have folded instantly in lieu of the financial indiscretion of a few. Many wealthy have suddenly found themselves middling or poor. Haman the Agagite, who seemed to be on top of his game, suddenly lost it all. And the fearful Jews suddenly became bold, while the nations they feared now feared them.

While we can easily chalk all this up to the uncertainty of fate, there is another way to look at it. The biblical worldview rejects the notion of fate and declares that it is not so uncertain as people may think. The whole biblical account demonstrates that not fate but God controls human events and directs all things consistently in keeping with His will. If you are a Christian, you know and believe this. But many times we forget. We forget when we are too caught up in managing our lives and pursuing our personal ambitions. We forget when we are more concerned with getting the right results rather than doing the right thing. We forget when our focus shifts from God's glory to lesser things, even good things that are not the best.

If we understand that by nature we become more and more foolish, wicked and rebellious, then no one should say that we spend too much time in God's Word or pit experiencing God against studying His Word. While there may have been a generation that was too concerned with knowing God's Word rather than obeying it, ours certainly is not such a generation.

Therefore, let us keep on reading God's Word, and let us remember what we have forgotten or have never really understood in the first place. Rather than hurry to apply something or experience something, let us humble ourselves so that we may truly discern what pleases God from His incontrovertible, revealed will in His Word.