The sermon, titled 'The Man Whom the King Delights to Honor,' delivered by Jason Dohm, explores the events of Esther chapter 6, emphasizing the dramatic irony and divine intervention within the narrative. The chapter reveals a turning point where King Ahasuerus, unable to sleep, discovers Mordecai's loyalty recorded in the chronicles, leading to Mordecai's unexpected honor instead of Haman's anticipated execution. Haman's misunderstanding of the king's intentions highlights his vanity and sets up a reversal of fortunes. The sermon underscores the sovereignty of God, who orchestrates even the smallest details to fulfill His purposes and protect His people. The narrative invites believers to consider their standing as the 'apple of God's eye,' assured of His love and providential care, while challenging non-believers to recognize the futility of opposing God's will. Through the lens of Esther's story, the sermon encourages faith in God's overarching plan and the recognition of His hand in both significant and mundane events.

So for those of you visiting, one of the things we do, because we have such a high view of the Word of God, as we preach it line by line in our little church here, one of the great delights to us is to stand up and then read the section of Scripture that we're in. But those of you visiting are jumping right in the middle of a story. I mean, it's right smack in the middle of it. So as we turn now, and I'm gonna read Esther chapter six as we all look at this text, you're jumping right into the middle of the story. So maybe I can convince Jason to give us a 30-second flyover before he begins the sermon, but I encourage you to go back and read these first five chapters of the book of Esther because there's no soap opera ever been made as dramatic as some of the events that take place in the text that you're going to read today, but it may not make complete sense unless you go back and read those first five.

So we're going to jump right in here to Esther chapter 6 in really an amazing turn of events. So join me as we prepare now. That night the king could not sleep, so one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the Chronicles and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told Bigthana and Tiresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on Hasuerus. Then the king said, what honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?

And the king's servants who attended him said, nothing has been done for him. So the king said, who is in the court? Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest that the king hanged Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, Haman is there standing in the court. And the king said, let him come in.

So Haman came in and the king asked him, what shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman thought in his heart, whom would the king delight to honor more than me. And Haman answered the king, for the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on his head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.

Then the king said to Haman, hurry, take the robe and the horse as you have suggested and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king's gate. Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken. So Haman took the robe and the horse arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor. Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning, and with his head covered. When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, His wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.

And While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came and hasten to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared. Oh Lord I Thank you that you are the hand that changes the course of history. Lord, help us all now. Love and honor your words. You've delivered them from heaven to us now.

I pray for my brother Jason as he comes. Bless this time as we dig deeper and are taught by you. Lord help us in Jesus' name. The sermon today is entitled, The Man Whom the King Delights to Honor. I picked that as the sermon title because it's the phrase around which all the irony of the chapter relates.

Of course, Haman thinks that the man that the king delights to honor is him. He can't imagine anyone else worthy of honor from the king like he is. But it's really Mordecai that the king delights to honor. So that's why that's the sermon title. The title for last chapter, chapter 5, was setting the trap.

As we see this drama unfold throughout the chapters of Esther, really chapter 5 is the turning point. The main characters can't see that the circumstances have turned the corner, but they really have. We know, since we've read to the end of Esther, we know they've turned the corner. And that this is a trap not set by man, but set by God. You can't get out of that trap.

You can get out of the man-made traps sometimes, but you can never get out of the trap that God lays. God has laid a trap here. In Esther chapter 5, our last chapter, Esther risked it all. You cannot come into the king's presence without being summoned. She hasn't been summoned.

So she risks her life. And the only way you don't die when that happens is if the king graciously extends his scepter to you as an exception to that law. And of course, the king does that. And she's richly rewarded for risking her life. She had feared that she might die, but not only does she not die, the king greets her with such a gracious response and says, I'll do anything that you ask, I'll give you anything up to half my kingdom.

Of course that wasn't his literal, his kingdom is 3, 000 miles from east to west. So this is an enormous empire. And He doesn't literally mean he'll give her 1500 miles of the empire. But it's to communicate his disposition to say yes to practically anything. And then throughout the rest of the chapter 5, Esther softens the ground.

In other words, she's making the king ready for her real request, which was that her Jews be saved from the total annihilation from the face of the earth that has been decreed against them. That's really what she wants. So she's preparing the ground to plant that seed in the heart of the king. She's making that ground nice and soft by serving a wonderful huge meal. At the end of the meal there's what is called in chapter 5 the banquet of wine.

They end the meal with all these wonderful wines. The first banquet leads to a second banquet. The text doesn't say why she doesn't just make the request at the end of the first banquet, but what the text says is that her request at the end of the first banquet. But what the text says is, her request at the end of the first banquet is that they come again the next day to a second banquet. So we don't know why a second banquet a day later, but for whatever reason, The extra day is critical.

A lot sure happens in that extra day. God has plans for every hour of that extra day. We see that in our chapter here in chapter 6. All is well at the end of the first banquet for Haman. He really has won the victory over his enemies, the Jews especially, that scoundrel Mordecai.

Mordecai is the man he hates more than anyone on the whole planet Earth. And he goes home, but he encounters Mordecai on the way home. What has been the best day ever turns into the worst day ever for him. It's about to be worse still in chapter 6, but in chapter 5. His day is ruined by coming upon Mordecai because Mordecai will not rise in his presence to honor him.

He is the second in command in an empire that spans 3, 000 miles, but this Jew won't stand for him. He is enraged, but he gains control of himself. He goes home and he gets this counsel from his wife and his friends after relating to them how wonderful he is. He gets this counsel that he should build a gallows, which in the Persian Empire would be a sharp pole that you would impale someone on. So don't think of hanging gallows, think of an impaling gallows.

You would gut someone on a sharp pole. Seventy-five foot tall so that everyone across the city can see. Don't mess with Haman. And so that is their counsel to him. And he goes to bed happy with the advice.

And so this brings us to chapter 6, our chapter. This is the next day. As we go to our text, let's ask the Lord to help us. Oh God, you are King. You reign over the big things in life, but even over the smallest things in life, you are king, ruling over all things to bring about glory for yourself and also the good of your people, the welfare of your people, always in your view.

I thank you that you do rule. Where would we be if you didn't rule over the little things in our lives? We almost never have to do with the big things. You would have nothing to do with us if you didn't govern even the small things. So thank you God for being King over everything that happens in life.

Pray that you would press this truth deep in our hearts as we study this text. In Jesus' name, Amen. I'm going to break up this chapter into four sections and then we'll just look at it section by section. First off I'd like to begin by rereading verses 1 through 3 and then let's consider. So follow along, Esther chapter 6, verses 1 through 3.

That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles, and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigphana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers, who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. Then the king said, What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? And the king's servants who attended him said, Nothing has been done for him.

So in these three verses we have a sleepless night. If you're taking notes on the handout and filling in the blanks there, sleepless is the blank. A sleepless night. We're not given a reason why the king can't sleep. It just says that he can't.

All that we know is that the last that we saw of the king in chapter 5 was that he had just finished an enormous meal that ended off with the banquet of wine. Normally people can sleep under such circumstances, but not the king. I'm going to now give you a request for how we look at the rest of the chapter. And my request is this. Take time to notice somewhat improbable circumstances, meaning things that are at least a little bit out of the normal.

And in some cases, way out of the normal. Just take time to notice things that are at least somewhat improbable. Happening at just the right time and in the right sequence. I'm going to sort of stop at various points in the chapter to say, this is at least a little abnormal, unusual, unlikely to have happened. But it's happening at just the right time and it's happening just in the right sequence for what God is bringing about.

And this is the first one, that the king can't sleep after a big meal and the banquet of wine. Where most people can sleep, But the king can't sleep. This is the first one of these circumstances that is a little bit out of the normal, but it's happening just at the right time and in just the right sequence. So the king can't sleep and he calls for the musicians, right? Isn't that what the text says?

No, that's not what the text says. He calls for a concubine. We know from the early chapters he has a whole house full of women to choose from. So you can't say he calls for a concubine, right? No, that's not what the text says.

He calls for more wine. No, he doesn't call for more wine. Maybe he calls for a concubine and wine. No. He calls for the records of the chronicles.

Sort of the book of me for the king. All the things that have happened during my reign, during my kingship, just records all that's happening in this mighty empire of mine. But bring those books and read to me. My point in saying he called for the musicians, or he called for a concubine, or he called for more wine, is just to point out the fact that he's the mighty king of an empire that is a man with options. Many options.

But among all the endless options at his fingertips, he calls for the records of the Chronicles to be read to him. This is number two. This is the second circumstance that is out of the norm, that is unusual, unlikely, happening at the right time and in the right sequence. He calls for the records of the chronicles and we know that this is the 12th year of his reign. In chapter 3 verse 7, that's our time marker, chapter 3 verse 7 said it's the 12th year of the king's reign and we're still in that time period.

So this is the 12th, he's been king for 12 years. And what is read from the book of me for the king? What is read is from the seventh year of his reign. Because it says they're reading about Mordecai and him uncovering a plot to kill the king from these two servants of the king and that Mordecai told Esther and Esther told the king that this information had come from Mordecai and He investigated, found out it was true, and he killed these two conspirators who were trying to kill him. That happened in the seventh year of his reign.

We learned that in chapter 2 verse 16. So it's been five years since that happened. Let's read what we have already encountered. This is the end of chapter 2, the last verses of chapter 2. Just flip back a couple of pages to Esther chapter 2.

I will read chapter 21 through 23. Esther chapter 2 starting in chapter 21. In those days while Mordecai sat within the king's gate, that means he is a servant of the king. He is in an official capacity, that's what it means to sit within the king's gate. Two of the king's units, Bigthon and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

So the matter became known to Mordecai who told Queen Esther and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name. Very important that she informed the king in Mordecai's name. And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed and both were hanged on the gallows. And it was written in the book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king. So this happened at the end of chapter 2 and we are actually told it got written down in the presence of the King.

So this happened at the end of chapter 2, and we're actually told it got written down in the presence of the King. And so what was written down in the presence of the King in chapter 2 in the seventh year of his reign, now it's the twelfth year of his reign, and they're reading that account, and it's five years later, and all this is coming back to mind. This is number three. What are the odds? What are the odds that the king would want to have these books read as a cure for his sleeplessness and that this would be the spot?

This is number three. This is out of the norm. But it's happening just at the right time, in just the right sequence. Now, Hesuarius asks, what honor or dignity has been bestowed? When you see these two Hebrew words together that's rendered honor and dignity, what honor or dignity, It really is two almost identical words.

It's sort of a repetition that essentially means, what great honor. That's what the repetition means. So, what great honor. The expectation of the king is that something great was done to honor Mordecai for his faithful service. And when I was preaching on chapter 2 and these events that have been written down in the book, I said that this would be very unusual.

This wouldn't be immediately and lavishly rewarded for a couple of reasons. The first reason was the king, the emperor of an empire that stretched 3, 000 miles, would never want to be indebted to any man in his empire. People are in the king's debt. The king isn't in their debt. So when something good is done for the king, it's lavishly rewarded so that the king can never say, I'm in debt to him.

That's a prerogative of being number one in the kingdom. Secondly, I said, the king always wanted to reward faithful service. Why? To keep it coming. If you need faithful service, you reward faithful service to keep the faithful service coming.

Who's going to save the king's life next time there's a conspiracy? If you've read history, you know kings sit in a very precarious seat. A lot of people want to sit in that seat. A lot of people will kill you to get that seat. You need people who know that it's good and you'll be lavishly rewarded if you help the king keep his seat.

Keep away the people who want to kill him and take his seat. So this is number four. This is number four of unlikely things. It's really unlikely that five years would have passed and nothing would have been done for Mordecai after he saves the king's life. Nothing.

Now, let's move on. Still in chapter 6, The second section I'd like to look at is verses 4 through 9. So follow along. Esther chapter 6, starting in verse 4, reading through 9. So the king said, who was in the court?

Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. The king's servant said to him, Haman is there standing in the court, and the king said, Let him come in. So Haman came in, and the king asked him, What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? Now Haman thought in his heart, whom would the king delight to honor more than me?' And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor, then parade him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, thus shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor." In these verses, verses 4 through 9, we have a big misunderstanding.

So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's misunderstanding as the blank. A big misunderstanding. The king wants advice on how to best honor the faithful service of Mordecai. And so he asked, who's in the court? Simultaneously, at this moment, Haman, who is eager to gain permission to execute Mordecai comes into the court.

King Ahasuerus has a plan for Mordecai. Haman knows literally nothing about it. Isn't that true? The king has a plan. I want to honor Mordecai.

Haman knows nothing about it. Now Haman has a plan for Mordecai. He wants to hang him on the gallows. And the king literally knows nothing about it. They aren't both of those things absolutely true.

And aren't they absolutely opposite plans? How do you get more opposite than this? I want to honor him. I want to kill him. This is number five.

Outside of the normal, but happening at just the right time. He walks into the court just as the king wants advice. Polar opposite plans for Mordecai, both oblivious to the other. The king says, what shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? We don't know why exactly the king phrased it this way.

This is about the only way you could ask this question to not tip off Haman to the fact that it wasn't him. It was someone else. But he did phrase it this way. He never mentioned Mordecai. Never gave any indication or inkling that it wasn't Haman.

But he phrases it in this way that is really easily misunderstood by Haman. And it plays right into Haman's vanity. It plays right into his weakness. It sets him up for the fall. After all, one simple question undoes the whole thing, right?

If Haman says, who do you want to honor? This story ends differently. This history ends very differently. It's one simple question. Who do you want to honor?

Are we talking about me here? Less than 24 hours earlier, the king told Esther, I'll give you anything up to half my kingdom." And now Haman figures it's his turn. Haman figures he's granting something splendid to the queen and since I'm his favorite He wants to grant something splendid to me. Heyman says in his heart, that's what the text says, in his heart, in his internal thoughts, who does the king like more than me? Who deserves honor more than me?

Now, when this was read, when Jim read the chapter, I heard audible snickers when this was said. Who would the king want to honor more than me? Belly laughs would have been fine with me. God is inviting us to laugh along with Him. It's just Like we read in Psalm 2.

In the book of Esther, the people of God appear to be on the precipice of being wiped off the face of the earth. Is God in heaven biting his fingernails? No! God's laughing! God's laughing at his enemies.

God never bites his fingernails in worry. God only has time to laugh at his enemies Because his enemies can't touch him, his enemies cannot touch his people. He is the sovereign God who governs all things at all times from eternity past through eternity future. He is God. He is God.

In his defense, in Haman's defense, the king has honored Haman above everyone else in the kingdom. We're laughing at Haman. It's good. Laugh along with God at Haman. Absolutely.

But you can't blame Haman for thinking this. The text has already said, the book of Esther has already said that the king liked Haman best. That the king had exalted Haman into a position above everyone else except himself in the kingdom. This is number six. This is out of the normal that Haman thought it was him.

Haman thought it was him. But it wasn't him at all. The king never had Haman in mind for this honor. He always was just wanting to reward a faithful servant in Mordecai. What does Haman ask for when he presumes he is the one to be honored?

Something only the second in the kingdom, a guy with Bill Gates money would ask for. Remember I said, Heyman is rich beyond imagination. He has Bill Gates money. Who's Bill Gates? He founded Microsoft.

He's either the first, depending on the time of year, Bill Gates is either the first or second richest man on planet Earth. This is Heyman. He has Bill Gates' money. And he's the second in the kingdom. What would a normal subject want for a faithful service?

Maybe a promotion, a higher rank, or maybe a pay raise. You cannot give Haman a higher rank. That spot is taken. There's only one of those. It's the king of the empire.

The king's not going to promote him to king. You can't give him a pay raise. He's got Bill Gates money. Money would be meaningless to him. So anything that would honor, in a tangible way, the faithful service of a normal subject of the kingdom, Haman has no interest in it.

He doesn't need it. Mordecai wants to wear the king's robe. Mordecai wants to ride on the king's horse, and it has to be marked out as the king's horse. Even the horse has to wear a crown. The horse is going to wear this headdress.

And actually there's an encarving in Persepolis, which is another capital of the Persian Empire, where it shows horses with these headdresses on that the king would ride upon. This is from the Persian Empire. And he wants to have a most noble prince on foot. Array him. Put the robe on him.

I don't want to put the robe on myself. I want your biggest, baddest prince. Putting the robe on me. And then walking the horse through the square. Truly, this is the gift for the man who has everything.

And that's what we see in the advertisements coming up to Christmas. For the man who has everything. It's sort of this quirky gift for people that are hard to buy for because they just already have everything. That's sort of what this is. This is the gift for the man who has everything.

He has all the rank, he has all the money, and so this is sort of a quirky honor for the man who has everything. He wants to be paraded through the most prominent, most visible place in the city. And here's what he wants cried out in front of him. Look at the very end of verse 9. Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king delights to honor.

That's me. I'm number one, the man the king delights to honor. Cry out. So Haman asks for what he wants most, but that is simultaneously the thing he would want Mordecai to have the least of anything on earth. He hates Mordecai.

Mordecai is the man who will not stand up in his presence to acknowledge him. The man who will not bow down and honor him. So the thing he would want least of anything possible in all of the universe for Mordecai would be this. It's the thing he wants the most, but it would be the thing he would want the least for Mordecai. This is number seven.

This is out of the norm. How often is it that the thing you want most would be the thing you would want your enemy to have least. You have a hard time conjuring up another instance where that would be true. When else would that be true? That the thing that would be best for you, you wouldn't want it a thousand miles from your enemy.

Well, here it has happened. This is number seven. Reading this makes me grateful. Thinking about this text makes me grateful. I have people in my life who will level with me, who will tell me when I'm being a jerk.

I'm really glad about that. If you don't have that, if you don't solicit that, ask, invite people who are close to you to tell you when you're being a jerk, you end up dominated by your weaknesses. This is Heyman to a T. He's dominated by his weaknesses. He's had by his weaknesses.

He's done in by his weaknesses. Here's a question for you. Do you have those people in your life? When you're really making a mess of it, but your pride won't allow you to give one inch to that thought. Do you have people who will come to you and tell you?

Oh, they're a blessing, not a curse. It might feel like a curse for a minute when they're telling you, You've been a jerk. It's really a blessing. It keeps you from being had by your weaknesses and your sins. It keeps you from being done in by them.

Do you solicit that from people who are close to you? I haven't done that for a while, too long. I need to solicit that. But I can tell you this, when I'm meeting with men in the church, and you'll affirm this, I frequently ask, is anything bothering you? That is a great question for your friends.

What's on your mind? Anything bothering you? Anything I'm doing bothering you? That's a great question for a pastor to ask people in the church, but it's not just for pastors in the church. It's a good question for all of us.

Christians are uniquely positioned to ask that question. Why do I say that? Because People out of Christ are so insecure. They have so much turf to protect that they can't dare ask that question. Level with me.

Tell me where I'm being a jerk. Tell me where I'm being unwise. Tell me where I'm offending people, but I can't bring myself to admit it. But people in Christ, I don't have that turf to protect. It's Christ.

People in Christ, we're not always past that, but we should be past it. We shouldn't have to protect that turf. We shouldn't have to worry about somebody touching my ego Because for us, we've agreed with God about ourselves. And it's not very flattering. God knows me.

Like we put on airs with each other, but he can't put on airs with God. He knows all that's in my heart, everything I've ever said and thought and done. So for us, we're past protecting that ground. We know that without the mercy of God, we are nothing. And that we're people, we're still full of sin, that God is having to work out of us little at a time slower than we wish it would.

When we're thinking rightly, this is how Christians think. It puts them at liberty to ask people who are close to them, like, level with me. Back up the truck. I can take it. Because my identity is not wrapped up in that thing.

I am blood bought. So I can take it. Our blind spots. This helps us with our blind spot. Haman has this enormous blind spot.

And his ruin is sitting right in the blind spot. And it's delicious. We can see it. But he can't see it. He's raging against God.

And he should be able to see that he's about to get creamed, but he can't see it at all. Moving along to verses 10 and 11. Chapter 6. Read along with me. Esther chapter 6 verses 10 and 11.

Then the king said to Haman, Hurry, take the robe and the horse as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king's gate. Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken. So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor." In these verses we have a most unusual parade. If you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's most unusual. A most unusual parade.

Let's review our somewhat improbable circumstances happening at just the right time in just the right sequence. I've said there are seven of them. Number one, the king can't sleep even after a feast that finishes with the banquet of wine. Number two, of all his options, he chooses the records of the chronicles to be read to him. Number three, they read from just the right spot, the spot about Mordecai saving him.

Number four, Mordecai's faithful service went unrewarded for five years, unheard of. Number five, the king and Haman have totally opposite plans for Mordecai and both are oblivious to the other's plans for Mordecai. Number six, there's this great misunderstanding where Haman presumes the king wants to honor him, but it's really Mordecai. And number seven, the thing Haman wants most for himself is the thing he would want least for Mordecai. Now Who's good at math?

Mathematically, when you start stacking low probability things together, multiplying low percentages by low percentages, you get something that's infinitesimally unlikely, like Almost impossible. When you start multiplying 20% probability times 20% times 20% times 20%, you get down to all but zero really fast mathematically. I believe in the sovereignty of God. I don't think in terms of probability, but we're talking about things that outwardly seem unlikely. And then now we're stacking them.

We're stacking the unlikely things. We're multiplying the low percentages by the low percentages and we're coming up with .0000001. Almost impossible that these things would happen at these timings and in this sequence. Here's what the author, I think, is doing. The author is forcing us to decide.

You're being brought to a decision point by the author of Esther, whoever that was. Fairy tale? Or God is king, he cares about everything, he rules over even the smallest details of our life. You've been brought to the crossroads. By the stacking of low probability things, one on top of another, And then there are low probability timings and the low probability of the sequence happening like this.

We've been brought, you have to pick, is this a fairy tale? Or does God care about such small things that He governs them in a way that causes Him to loom large in the world and for the benefit and preservation and blessing of his people. Listen to Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11. Just mark that down. Ephesians 1 verse 11.

The him in this verse is Jesus Christ. This is Paul. In hymn, in Jesus Christ, also we have obtained an inheritance. Being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. This is Paul writing about the salvation of sinners.

Paul says the salvation of sinners is wrapped up in him, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners are saved for this reason, that God decided it beforehand and He is doing these things according to his own purpose, who works all things according to the counsel of his will. So it is about salvation, but it has to be about everything. Because Paul says, God is working all things, all things, according to the purpose of the counsel of His will. In other words, according to what He has decided is a good idea.

All things. Now the events of Esther are perfectly consistent with this. They are perfectly consistent with a God who works all things according to the purpose of the counsel of His will. A God who governs even the little things in life because He's decided what's a good idea to bring glory to Himself and to bless His people. Do you believe that?

That God works not just in the big things. This is typically how we think about the sovereignty of God. Yes, God is sovereign and He cares about big things and He is working them. No, that is not what this text is saying. That is not what Ephesians 1.11 is saying.

Do you believe that about the sovereignty of God? That even the little things, the most mundane things that seem so much under our control are actually working according to the purpose of the counsel of God's will, even the little things in life. Not just the big things, but the tedious and mundane things, the things that we have given to ourselves to be in control over. The Bible is contradicting us. Praise the Lord the Bible is contradicting us about this.

Listen to Proverbs 16 verse 9. Proverbs 16 verse 9. A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16 verse 9. A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Is this anti-planning? In no way. It says that is the natural course of things, a man's heart planning his way. I think we could go to Proverbs and find wisdom that says we should plan. Just don't let that think you control things You don't God controls things he's working all things according to the purpose of the council of his will Ephesians 1 verse 11 We plan our way God directs our steps.

It's exactly what we see in Esther chapter 6. The king loves Haman's idea. Great idea, Haman. Think what the king was trying to achieve. Number one, getting out of debt to Mordecai.

He needs to pay him a great honor. This does that. Number two, publicly rewarding faithful service. Bingo! Bingo!

What could remove the debt from the king more than this? What would be a more public reward of faithful service than this? The king loves this idea. This is perfect for what he's trying to accomplish. So the king says to Haman, you're a most noble prince.

Go and do all of your perfectly excellent suggestions to Mordecai the Jew. Perfect. I'm so glad you're here, Haman. It's so fortuitous that you were to come into the court at just the right time. I never would have thought of this idea.

It's perfect. Go do it. And don't leave anything out. The obvious question here is, how do you reconcile honoring a Jew, he says go do this to Mordecai the Jew. Meaning the king knows Mordecai is a Jew at this point in the story.

When he learned Mordecai was a Jew, we don't know, but we know he knows he's a Jew now. Because he says, go do this for Mordecai the Jew. How do you reconcile honoring a Jew with the decree, which happened a couple of chapters earlier which said we are going to wipe Jews off the face of the earth in the eleventh month on the thirteenth day. You can push as hard as you want. You can't bring these things together.

How do you reconcile these things? Here's what Haman said to the king in chapter three verse eight when he was describing the Jews, which is all he ever did. He says to the king, a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people are troublemakers. Don't follow the laws and we should annihilate them. A certain people scattered among all the provinces of the empire.

I want to argue that it's not inconsistent with the king's character That he wouldn't have even known that the people being wiped off the face of the earth was the Jews, but that it is entirely consistent with his character. I want us to acknowledge that the king is a radically isolated and infinitely selfish man We learned this every chapter of the book Radically isolated meaning he's out of touch with all that's going on they Haman Gave the decree to wipe Jews off and wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. It comes to the people in the capital city, Shushan. They're perplexed. They're sort of in an uproar.

What does the king do? He and Haman go to drink. He's out of touch. He's radically isolated. He's infinitely selfish.

He's thinking about things. He's thinking about him and all his women and his banquets of wine. For clarity, it is my view that one, the king doesn't know it is the Jews who are to be annihilated. He is that isolated. He is that selfish.

Number two, the king doesn't even know that Esther is Jewish. It's been said multiple times in the text that she concealed this. Mordecai told her to Keep that information under wraps. She concealed it. And number three, that the king doesn't understand the relationship between Esther and Mordecai.

The king does not know. Look at chapter 8 verse 1 as evidence of this. So we're in chapter 6, so just look ahead to chapter 8 verse 1. On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. Chapter 8.

Haman withheld from the king that it was the Jews. He just said a certain people. And he exploited the king and now the king withholds who he wants to honor, which exploits Haman. So, Haman is stuck. He came to have Mordecai impaled on his sharp stick, his 75 foot sharp stick.

But he can't even whisper that now because what are the king's intentions to honor Mordecai for his faithful service? He can't even whisper that now. His Life may depend on concealing that request. He's wanted to impale the man whom the king delights to honor. Oh, the irony.

So Haman swallows hard and Haman grits his teeth. And Haman makes himself do it. He overrides every fiber in his being that says, Have the courage to die with the courage of your convictions. Don't lead your arch enemy through the city in the king's robe on the king's horse, crying out, Don't do it. He overrides that to save his skin.

And he does it. The last time we saw Mordecai in the square was chapter 4 verse 6. He was in sackcloth and ashes, wailing over the decree to annihilate the Jews. Now he's back in the square being led through by Haman on the king's horse in the king's robe. Psalm 2.

Laugh. Laugh it up. This is the fate that all of the enemies of God have before them. I want to ask those who are not following by Jesus to consider this. How can you win?

If you're not following Jesus by faith, you must, After considering Esther chapter 6, you must ask yourself this question, How can I win? If God is working all things according to the purpose of the counsel of His will, even down to the timing of the little things in life, how could I ever win in my rebellion against God? And that's a rhetorical question. It's a question that answers itself. You cannot win.

There's only losing ahead of the people who are the enemies of God. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5 verse 7. It's such a short verse. This is Paul, the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight.

This is how the Lord's people go through the world, their pilgrimage in this world. By faith, they walk by faith, not by sight. The Lord's people are those who the road appears under us as we walk. Just imagine this. Picture this in your mind.

You're walking. You're walking. You're walking. Step. Oh, the road's there.

Step. The road's there. It's like the road is appearing under my feet as I'm stepping. The world, and too often us, says, no, road first, then I'll walk. The people of God aren't like that.

The people of God can't be like that. The people of God can't afford to be like that because of how God is working. They have to assume that God is working this way, working out all things according to the purpose of the counsel of His will. And so they step in obedience and the road appears beneath their feet and they step and they step and they step and the road keeps appearing. We cannot go through this pilgrimage in the world saying, nope, show me the road and then I'll walk.

This is what is so incomplete with open door Christianity. Meaning, When I see the door open, then I know God has done that for me, so I walk through the door. Now that is true. God opens the door for His people. I'm not contradicting that, but I'm just saying that's incomplete.

If all you have room for in your thinking about how God works is, He's going to open the door and then I walk through the open door, then I don't think you can make sense of the book of Esther. That's not how it works. Esther and Mordecai accelerate to a high rate of speed towards a closed door. Presuming that God loves his people and This is the way of duty and obedience, so onward and faster. And at the last second we see the door flings open and they go through.

It happens in a different order than the door opens and they walk through. They identify this is the way of duty and obedience and they walk and the road appears under their feet and the door opens. Neither Esther nor Mordecai waited for any of this to happen. Chapter 5, and they're laying it all on the line, happens before chapter 6, when God actually shows up to work in all the little circumstances of life to make the door open, make the road appear. How are you doing?

How are you doing? Apply this to yourself. Are you walking by sight? Or are you assuming that God loves His people? I'm not talking about doing stupid things, like risking it all for nothing.

I'm talking about walking in the way of duty and obedience, assuming that God will meet you there and bless you and save you if you need saving. How are you doing? Last verses, 12-14. Esther chapter 6, verses 12-14. Afterward, Mordecai went back to the king's gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.

When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, His wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, If Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but will surely fall before him. While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared. In these three verses We have a sobering pronouncement. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, the blank is sobering. A sobering pronouncement.

Mordecai seems to be relatively unaffected. He goes back to the king's gate, to his duties as a servant of the king. The text just doesn't give us anything further than that. He goes back to work. Now Haman, if this had happened to Haman, If the king's robe had been put on Haman, and Haman had been sat on the king's horse by one of the top princes and paraded through the square, he'd have been strutting around the rest of the day like a peacock.

OK, Mordecai goes back to work. Haman is overcome with sorrow, and he covers his head, and he rushes home. He cannot wait to get out of view. He's so ashamed. And he tells his wife Zeresh and his friends.

His friends also appear to be his wise men or his advisors. It seems to me in these verses like those that are used interchangeably. It says he relates everything to his friends and then his wise men say this. It's possible it's different people, but it sort of reads to me like they're the same people. These are his advisors.

Now when we last heard from them, it was the end of chapter 5, and they were saying, erect a 75 foot pole to impale your enemy on. And expecting that that would be unopposed by the king and that would be the end of Mordecai. This is a shocking reversal. Look at what they say now at the end of verse 13. If Mordecai before whom you have begun to fall is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.

With friends like these who in the world needs enemies, Their last advice to you was build a 75 foot gallows. And now they're saying, well, you've begun to fall before him. You're going to fall before him now. The shocking Reversal is not explained. I want to make a couple of comments.

One, the new King James here renders it of Jewish descent. If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, that's more literally of Jewish seed. It's exactly the same Hebrew word which is used in Genesis 3.15. Genesis 3.15 is after sin, the eating of the forbidden fruit, God comes and he curses, he has a curse for the serpent, a curse for the woman, a curse for the man. Genesis 315 is the curse for the serpent which reads, Genesis 315, and I will put enmity between your seed and her seed.

This is that Hebrew word. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." This is part of the curse, right? The devil will be at war with mankind as the descendants flow forth from Adam and Eve, but especially Jesus, the second Adam. And that Jesus is going to bruise the head of the serpent, but the serpent will be bruising the heel of Jesus. When we see Zeresh and Haman's friends saying of Jewish descent here, we should acknowledge that that's the exact same word that appears multiple times in Genesis 3.15.

We have the echoes here of a war between the seed. And that's exactly what's going on in Esther chapter 6. This is about whether the Lord's people will continue on the earth or not. Now where did this come from? Why in the world does Haman's wife and his friends say this?

It comes out of nowhere. Well, you know what I'm going to say. The text doesn't say. The text doesn't tell us. I'll say this.

This is probably the year 474 BC, 474 years before Christ was born when Esther 6 is happening. Daniel chapter 3 and Daniel chapter 6 happened about a century earlier. What's Daniel chapter 3? King Nebuchadnezzar, When you hear the music, bow to the golden idol or you're thrown into the furnace. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Nope, can't do it. Into the furnace with you. Hey, are there four in there? I thought we only threw three in there. There's a fourth one in there and he's shining like the Son of Man.

The Son of God? The Son of Man. I think it says Son of Man. It's Christ. Christ in the first with Shadrach, Neshach, and Abednego.

Happened something like a hundred years earlier. Daniel in the lion's den. You only worship the king for the next 30 days. Nope, can't do it. Goes home, opens up the window, bows down and worships God like he always does.

The king didn't want to follow through with it. Because the laws are unbreakable, the king had to follow through with it. Daniel goes into Lion's Den. The king spends a sleepless night. The next morning, comes to the Lion's Den.

Daniel is unharmed. So they throw in the wise men and their families. And they don't even hit the bottom of the den before the lions overpower and devour them. About a hundred years earlier. This happened in this kingdom.

This happened in this kingdom. Now, our Civil War ended in 1865. It's 150 years ago. There's still the exploits, heroism from our civil war that are on the tip of our tongue. Some of those names, Abraham Lincoln is on the tip of our tongue.

It was 150 years ago. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, King Darius, are less than 100 years before in this kingdom. And these were Jews and they were standing up for the worship of God in this kingdom. That's my best guess. They had already seen God intervene and overthrow seemingly overwhelming odds in order to bring glory to Himself and to save His people.

They had already seen that. These were things that were still known and told. That's my best guess. Speculation. Whatever the case, consider Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8.

Just consider Zechariah chapter 2 verse 8. He who touches you, touches the apple of his eye. This is the prophet inspired by God, speaking inspired words, saying, He who touches you, people of God, touches the apple of his eye. What is the apple of his eye? The object of his love and his affection.

His heart pulses for you. God's heart pulses for his people. If you touch the Lord's people, you're touching the apple of his eye. His love is set upon them. His affection is set upon them.

Here's what Matthew Henry says of this. Feeble Jews their enemies sometimes called them, but formidable Jews they sometimes found them. They are a holy seed, a praying seed, in covenant with God, and a seed that the Lord hath all along blessed. And therefore, let not their enemies expect to triumph over them. They are the apple of His eye.

We are the apple of His eye. We are the apple of His eye. We are the apple of His eye. I want my brothers and sisters in Christ to feel the force of being the apple of God's eye today. Come to Esther 6 and drink from this well.

Feel the force of being the apple of God's eye. What does it mean to be the object of His affection that He is always thinking of us, always planning ways to come and bless us and save us? Look at the cross. Look at the cross. If you want to know what it means to be the apple of God's eye, to be the object of His love and of the affections of His heart, look at the cross.

See that he has bled and died for sinners and make us claim we were his enemies. He loves us. He loves us. He's thinking about us. He's inventing ways to save us and bless us.

Feel the weight and the force of being the apple of God's eye. The reality of our text is this. If you are God's enemy, If you are the enemy of God's people, they are one and the same by the way. If you are God's enemy, you are the enemy of his people. If you are the enemy of his people, you are the enemy of God.

He has a thousand ways to tweak the most mundane little circumstances in life to frustrate your every plan. You can never win against this God who controls even the smallest thing and is imagining ways to save his people and bless his people. If you are the friend of God, if you have trusted in Christ and been cleansed by that blood, you are the apple of His eye. His affections are set upon you and He is imagining ways to bless you and help you and support you and sustain you. Feel the weight of it.

Feel the force of it. Finally, Haman is whisked away to the second banquet. I think our author is intending to leave us with a feeling of things spiraling totally out of control. He's not even done with the conversation with his friends in here. Like, on to the next thing.

Things were going so well in succession for Haman up to a certain point, but when God reversed the tide, It is reversed and accelerating and now he has no time to catch his breath or think, here the servants are and he's off to the second back way. And that takes us to next week. God thank you. Thank you for your love. Thank you that your people are the apple of your eye.

Not just a science project that you're executing to do interesting things on the earth, but we are the objects of your affection and you're doing things, practical things, every day to demonstrate your love and care for us. We praise you in Jesus' name, Amen.