H vs. h

 Matthew 23:12  “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

 “to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.”

 “all wives will honor their husbands, both great and small… each man should be master in his own house”.

 “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”

 “Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people, just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.”

 “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain.”

 “And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.”

 “…So the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.”

 “When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”

 “And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: ‘Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’”

1. Esther cannot save herself in the long run 2. Failure to act may frustrate the purpose for which she had be brought to queenship. EVERYTHING TO GAIN AND NOTHING TO LOSE

If someone God calls is unwilling to cooperate, two things will happen: 1. God will find willing participants elsewhere, for God’s plan can never be stopped 2. Those who are not willing will perish with the unfaithful (Matthew 21:41)

 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”

 “So Esther answered, ‘ If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.’”

 “Then Esther answered and said, ‘My petition and request is this: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.’”

 “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 Bigthana 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.’”

1. It was right for the king to reward Mordecai. People in authority should reward those who serve faithfully and not just punish disobedience. 2. Mordecai’s attitude toward the reward showed no bitterness toward the king for having not rewarded him. When he was rewarded, 3. Mordecai received the greatest reward he could hope for. When that reward came, it came at a time that made it far more valuable to Mordecai than any reward that could have been given at the time he did the good deed.

 “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.” 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?’”

MordecaiHaman He felt it was the right thing to do to warn the king of the plot that the two eunuchs had to kill him and didn’t care about being rewarded. Haman didn’t ask the king who was being discussed and should be honoured. He felt it should be him automatically. Haman felt that no one other than himself should be honoured! Mordecai didn’t ask to be rewarded and he didn’t complain when he wasn’t rewarded. He sought the greatest honour for himself instead of asking for something humbly. He stood outside the palace in sackcloth weeping for his people and the doom they are about to face He spent an evening boasting to his family and friends about his own greatness

 “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!’’ 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.’”

 “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.”

 QUICKLY MADE = QUICKLY BROKEN  A common characteristic of friends that follow you for your fame, wealth, and glory : as quickly as they come to your side is as quickly as they desert you when you fall. VS

 “Then Queen Esther answered and said, ‘ If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.’”

 “So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, ‘Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?’”

 “ If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”

 “The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them. ”

 “On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.”

 “And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent.”

possessor of the king’s signet ringan attendant in the king’s courtHumiliated when Mordecai was honoured instead of himA dead man

a man who was prominent throughout the Persian kingdompossessor of the king’s signet ring (8:2)an attendant in the king’s court (2:19)the descendant of an exiled Jew (2:5,6)

 “ did not lay a hand on the plunder ”: the actions of the Jews were not motivated by greed or covetousness but by the desire for self-protection and justice.

 “And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea.”

PROVIDENCE HUMILITY