Esther: The Shadows of Providence
The Book of Esther Session 8
The King Honors Mordecai
(Esther 6:1-14)
“Esther, as compared to the rest of the Old Testament, is like falling from heaven to earth.” – Heinrich
Ewald

Introduction
Esther is an obscure book to many. It is a story of human love, palace intrigue, and the glory days of the
Persian Empire. A Jewish maiden, elevated to the Throne of Persia as queen, is used by God to preserve
His people against a Hitler-like annihilation… The Book of Esther commemorates the deliverance
celebrated, to this day—the Feast of Purim. It is, in the end, an account of God’s providence in the people
of Israel.
Puzzles
• No mention of the name of God;
• No reference to worship or faith;
• No prediction of the Messiah;
• No mention of heaven or hell…nothing “religious” about it.
• It is a gripping tale, but why is it here in the Bible? Is it a revelation of God’s providence? Martin Luther
believed it should not be part of the Canon!
• Esther = means “Something Hidden”(!)
• [The name of YHWH is hidden inside the text in several ways…]
Paul reveals that the historic incidents that happened to Israel are intended as types for us:
Romans 15:4 (NKJV), “For whatever things were written before were written
for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures
might have hope.”
Examples include:
– Feasts of Israel = prophetic implications (Passover, Firstfruits, etc.);
– Days of Noah;
– Abraham’s Offering of Isaac;
– Jonah, three days…
The story behind the story: Ourselves.
Bible = To know God; to know ourselves!
Time Period
Chronologically, it antedates the Book of Nehemiah by about 30 years. Esther makes possible Nehemiah.
It was Esther’s marriage to the King of Persia that ultimately leads to the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

These are historical events: not just a story to highlight a moral imperative. It deals with an escape from
annihilation after their return from Babylonian captivity and enables the chain of events that led to the
Messiah five centuries later.
The book takes place in the Persian period (539-331 b.c.), after many Israelites had returned from the
Exile to the land of Palestine to rebuild the temple. Most Israelite captives, however, chose not to return to
their homeland. They should have done so for Isaiah and Jeremiah had urged the yet-to-be-exiled nation
to come out of Babylon after 70 years (Isa 48:20; Jer 29:10 50:8; 51:6) and return to the place where the
Lord could bless them under the promises (Deut 28).

The events in the Book of Esther extend over a decade:
- From 483 b.c., Xerxes’ 3 rd year; Esther 1:3
- to 473 b.c., the end of Xerxes’ 12th year; Esther 3:7
The events in this book occurred between those recorded in Ezra 6 & 7.

Festival of Purim
We are going to learn about the origins of the festival of Purim. Purim is a celebration of deliverance. In
contrast to Hanukkah, another festival of deliverance in which the achievement of religious liberty is
celebrated, and the preservation of Israel is remembered. Purim commemorates the preservation of the
Jewish people.
Outline
I. Affairs in the court and the Dethronement of Vashti - Chapter 1
II. The search for the new Queen - Chapter 2
III. The feud between Haman and Mordecai - Chapter 3
IV. Mordecai’s plan - Chapter 4
V. Pride goes before the fall - Chapter 5
VI. Haman’s humiliation - Chapter 6
VII. Haman’s downfall - Chapter 7
VIII. Esther’s petition - Chapter 8
IX. The day of vengeance - Chapter 9
X. The observance of Purim - Chapter 10
**
READ (All) Esther 6:1-14**
The entire course of history for the Jewish nation was changed because a pagan king, hundreds of miles
from the center of God’s activities in Jerusalem, could not sleep.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV), “And we know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

1) (Esther 6:1-3) A sleepless night.

[1] 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.

a) The king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of
the chronicles: Many historians have used the chronicles to write about Persian history. We see
that King Ahasuerus used reading to help him get sleepy.
i) What do you use to help you fall asleep? Why are phones not a good choice to
help you fall asleep?

[2] And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two
of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King
Ahasuerus.

b) And it was found written: We see the Providence of God in this night of the king. King
Ahasuerus cannot sleep. He could have called for one of concubines, or for food, or for any
distraction, but he called for a book (the chronicles) to be read. So, a particular book was brought
and it was opened to a particular place. The account that was read was the one that describes how
Mordecai saved the King from assassination. God guided the entire series of events.

i) Records of the chronicles of Persia literally mean the “book of remembrance.”
Malachi 3:16 (NKJV), “So a book of remembrance was written before Him for
those who fear the LORD.”
ii) How does it make you feel that God is guiding even went you don’t have a sense
that He is?

[3] 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.”

c) What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this? The servant tells the king
that nothing had been done. Haman is proud and ambitious, and he advances in the king’s court.
Mordecai is humble, modest, and self-controlled and stays in his station.
Psalm 147:6 (NKJV), “The LORD lifts up the humble He casts the wicked down
to the ground.”
i) Have you ever been overlooked in a matter? How did it make you feel?
ii) Gratitude is a duty and a virtue. Five years had passed without recognition. Furthermore, this
oversight was, itself, a gross breach of Persian law. “Royal Beneficiaries” formed a distinct class
and had their names inscribed on a special list [Herodotus, viii. 85].
iii) Why did Esther ask for a delay before telling the king her request? (Est 5:7). The reason was
now made clear. God was going to elevate Mordecai, and to prepare the king to react
unfavorably to Haman.

2) (Esther 6:4-5) Haman in the courts of the king.

[4-5] 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 hang Mordecai on the
gallows that he had prepared for him. The king’s servants said to him, “Haman
is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.”

a) Who is in the court? It is now morning, and people would begin to stir in the court. Haman is
impatient to get Mordecai hung (impaled), so he comes early to get an execution order from the
king. Haman presumes that he has such good standing with the king that this would merely a
formality.
b) Now Haman had just entered the outer court: It was no coincidence that Haman entered the
king’s court at just that moment. Esther wasn’t lucky to be queen; Mordecai wasn’t lucky to have
overheard the assassination plot; it wasn’t luck or chance that made Haman enter the royal courts
at this time with this heart. All of these events were orchestrated by God and not by luck. (Guzik)

3) (Esther 6:6) King Ahasuerus asks a question of Haman.

[6] 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?”

a) What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor? God is still in control,
and He is setting up Mordecai and Haman in way that they would both get what is coming to them.

b) Whom would the king delight to honor more than me? Falling is a common result for men
who have a pride and arrogance. God allows men to set their own trap to fall into blindly.

Psalm 141:8-10 (NKJV), “But my eyes are upon You, O GOD the Lord; in You I
take refuge; do not leave my soul destitute. Keep me from the snares they have
laid for me, and from the traps of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall
into their own nets, while I escape safely.”
i) What are some ways that you can honor other people that have been instrumental
in your Christian walk?

4) (Esther 6:7-9) Haman’s answer on how the king should honor the man who pleases the king.

[7-9] 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 it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”

a) For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the
king has worn: Haman asks for some very self-indulgent trappings to be given to him. None of
this really matters, except to puff up Haman with pride and self-importance.

b) Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor: Haman did not need
money (cf. Esther 3:9). He craved respect from his peers and from the population at large (cf. Est
5:11). Even though he was fabulously wealthy and had more power than anyone outside the royal
family (Est 3:1), he wanted even more respect from the people of the city. Haman’s lust for respect
from Mordecai is what got him into trouble in the first place (cf. Est 3:2, 5; 5:9, 13).
i) Do you desire the attention and respect of others? Why or why not?
Psalm 84:10 (NKJV), “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I
would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of
wickedness.”

5) (Esther 6:10-11) Haman must lead the chorus of praise for Mordecai.

[10-11] 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!”

a) Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the
Jew: It would have been something to see the face of Haman at that moment; to see that the king
took his advice completely, but gave the honor to his arch enemy - the man that Haman came to
ask for his execution.

b) So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback
through the city square: The ultimate humiliation was for Haman to honor Mordecai in such a
public way; humiliation is only really humiliation when it is public.
i) How would you have reacted if you were Haman?

6) (Esther 6:12-14) Mourning, warning, and a hasty departure to Esther’s banquet.

[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.

a) Mourning, and with his head covered: The irony continues: Earlier Mordecai had publicly
grieved over his people (Est 4:1); now Haman privately grieved over his own humiliation. When
Haman had left his wife in the morning he had been elated. Now the bottom had fallen out from
under him…and it’s just beginning…
i) Where is the best place for you to receive comfort when you are sad?

b) And hastened to bring Haman to the banquet: Now, with his world crashing down around his
head, Haman was hustled off to Esther’s second banquet, which once he desired but which he now
dreaded. He may have well wondered what the king would say to him at the banquet.
i) There is a danger in being an anti-God person that opposes God’s people.