Honor and Blessings

Esther 6:1-14 

    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. 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. 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."

    4 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.  5 The king's servants said to him, "Haman is there, standing in the court.  And the king said, "Let him come in."

    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?" 7 And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 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. 9 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!'"

    10 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."

    11 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!"

    12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 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."

    14 While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

Mordecai was honored instead of Haman, for Haman had plotted against the chosen people of the LORD.  Mordecai, however, had acted honorably to save the king’s life from plotting, and had acted honorably towards His God by not breaking the first commandment in undue adulation and worship of Haman.  God began by making the king’s sleep restless until God moved his heart to have the chronicles read to him, a history of the Persian empire.  There he heard of how Mordecai exposed the plot of two of the king's eunuchs, the doorkeepers, against King Ahasuerus.  He inquired as to how Mordecai had been honored as reward for saving the king’s life, and discovered that nothing at all had been done for his faithfulness.  Just then Haman “happened” to walk in as the king was looking for an answer, and he asked the traitor what honor should be given to someone the king delighted to honor, not mentioning Mordecai providentially.  Haman’s pride thought it was all about him, and so concocted a royal public display as the reward, assuming quite wrongly it was for himself.  He wanted the king’s robe and horse, along with a royal crown to display his importance to all who watched as he was paraded through the city square.  It is as if he wanted the throne itself in his arrogance.  The king so ordered it, but for the Jew Mordecai instead - a severe blow to Haman’s prideful expectations.  Haman himself led his enemy through the streets of the city square while proclaiming that this is how the king chose to honor those who honor him.  Haman was mortified by Mordecai’s reward in place of his own expectations, and even his wife and other wise men reminded him that as a Jew, there was no victory over Mordecai, only certain ruin for Haman.  Just then, the king’s messengers came to take him to Esther’s banquet, giving him no further time to fume over his own defeat of all his plotting and delusions of grandeur.  We see a lesson here in those whose pride thinks they can overwhelm God’s chosen people, which culminates in both Jew and Gentile in Christ.  Our victory is in Him (1 Corinthians 15:57) and our honor is in His grace (James 4:10) through our humility, not in our pride of deserved expectations of what we think we deserve.  The gospel is not health and wealth, but faith and humility in following the sovereign path after Christ alone for His glory alone.  When we set about thinking all is about us and that God must bless us because we assume every honor is ours, we will find ourselves leading the truly faithful ones in the end who honored Him (Proverbs 29:23, Luke 14:11, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, John 12:26).  Honor and blessings are in the hands of the Lord, meted out according to His grace and not our expectations.