Esther 6

God’s wisdom and grace is seen in the way He times the means of deliverance for His people so as to manifest His own glory.
As for God, His way is perfect, and let not enemies think to triumph over those who are in covenant with Him.

1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

4 ¶ And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,

8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:

9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.

11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

12 ¶ And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.

14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.

Esther 6 – Gratitude for a Forgotten Service

   There was a divine providence in this royal sleeplessness. On the very next night Haman would be hanging on the gallows, and it would be too late for him to render this honor to the hated Jew. Therefore, on this night the king must be reminded of a forgotten incident, must ask if the chivalrous informant had been rewarded, and must, through Haman, decree his splendid reward. When we are suffering indignity at the hand of our enemies, who seem to pass out of our lives without making reparation, let us turn to this story, and remember that as honor came to Mordecai through Haman, so honor and reparation shall accrue through the very circumstances and people that seem most threatening. The wrath of man is made to praise God. —Through the Bible Day by Day

Find the missing words then click and drag the letters in the grid below. Click “Start“

7 And Haman ________________ the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to ____________,

8 Let the royal ______________ be brought which the king useth to wear, and the __________ that the king rideth upon, and the __________ royal which is set upon his head:

10 Then the king said to __________, Make __________, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast ________, and do even so to ________________ the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s ________: let nothing ________ of all that thou hast ____________.

Esther 6:10—As thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew.

   Here indeed was a turning of the tables! Haman doing honor to the humble Jew, who refused to do honor to himself. Surely that day the old refrain must have rung through Mordecai’s heart:—“He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S” (1 Samuel 2:8). And there was an anticipation of yet other words:—“For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, …I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee” (Revelation 3:8-9).
   How evidently God was working for His child. The gallows, indeed, was being prepared, but it would be used for Haman; the triumph that Haman thought to be preparing for himself was to be used for Mordecai.
   This is not an isolated case. Any one who has lived a few years in the world and has observed the ways of God could duplicate it with instances that have come under his own notice. Dr. Gordon told us once of a church in Boston that would not admit colored people; and after a few years it broke up, and the edifice is now occupied by a flourishing colored church.
   Trust on, beloved friend, amid scorn, hate, and threatening death. So long as thy cause is God’s, it must prevail. He will vindicate thee. Them that honor Him He will honor; those that despise Him shall be lightly esteemed.
       “Though the mills of God grind slowly,
          Yet they grind exceeding small;
       Though with patience He stands waiting,
          With exactness grinds He all.” —Our Daily Homily