HUMILITY AND PRIDE (Esther 5:1-14)
INTRODUCTION:
We took a little detour last Sunday from the book of Esther to look at the relationship between McCleary Community Church and Village Missions. This morning we return to the book of Esther. By way of reminder, we have been using the words of Paul in 1st Corinthians 10:11 to guide our understanding of the book of Esther. Paul wrote in this verse, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11, NASB95)[1] This verse tells us that the events recorded in the book of Esther are true historical events that happened to those involved in those events as an example to us, and they were written for our instruction. We have learned that the characters of the book of Esther are types or pictures for us. King Ahasuerus represents man’s soul. Esther represents the revived spirit of man that’s revived when we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Mordecai represents the Holy Spirit who indwells and guides the believer. Haman represents man’s flesh, his old nature that is set against the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is set against the flesh, they are in opposition to one another for the control of man’s soul.
In chapter four we learned of the reaction of Mordecai and the Jews upon hearing the new edict issued from the king for the annihilation of the all the Jews in the Media-Persian empire. Mordecai instructed Esther to go before the king and plead for her people. Since she had not been summoned by the king, going into his presence unannounced was taking her life in her own hands. If he held out his scepter to her, she would live and have her audience with the king, but if he did not hold out his scepter she would be executed. At the end of chapter 4, with courage and grace, Esther bows to the will of Mordecai and agrees to go unannounced to the king to plead for her people. But first Mordecai must gather all the Jews in Susa and fast on Esther’s behalf for three days and Esther with her maids will do the same. Then she would go to the king, even though it was against the law. Esther’s resolve was, “If I perish, I perish.” The fast symbolized Esther’s complete willingness to enter into death—a death three days and three nights long. Esther was willing to die to save her people from annihilation, just as Jesus Christ was willing to save us from the second death. We must be willing to accept in practical experience the judgment of the cross upon our flesh, our old nature, as Esther was willing to enter into death. We compared Esther’s experience with what is written in Romans 6:6 where Paul writes, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:6, ESV)[2] This morning we enter into chapter five, the three days of fasting are over. It is the third day, the fast is over. Let’s pray and then read our Scripture for today.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Esther 5:1-14, our passage for this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Esther 5:1-14,
“Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter. Then the king said to her, ‘What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.’ Esther said, ‘If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.’ Then the king said, ‘Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.’ So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, ‘What is your petition, for it shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’ So Esther replied, ‘My petition and my request is: if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and do what I request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king says.’ Then Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai. Haman controlled himself, however, went to his house and sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh. Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the number of his sons, and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him above the princes and servants of the king. Haman also said, ‘Even Esther the queen let no one but me come with the king to the banquet which she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her with the king. Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.’ Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, ‘Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.’ And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.” (Esther 5:1–14, NASB95)[3]
ESTHER’S AUDIENCE (Esther 5:1-4)
As we begin chapter five, it is the third day since Esther petitioned Mordecai to gather the Jews and to fast on her behalf. She has dressed in her royal robes, and she is standing in the inner court of the palace in front of the king’s rooms. As she stood there, I am sure she is wondering if this will be her last day, or will the king receive her. It is a moment of high drama as she waits to see the king’s response to her unannounced visit. It is interesting that the text is clear that she came on the third day, the third day in Scripture is always the day of resurrection. For three days and three nights she fasted as though she was dead, but now, in a way, she has risen from the dead and comes to make her request to the king.
We have already learned that the human spirit is made alive in resurrection power by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is through our resurrected spirit that the Holy Spirit seeks to influence and repossess our minds, emotions, and will. Guidance imparted by the human spirit is true, realistic, and morally upright because the human spirit is under the control and authority of the Holy Spirit. These two are so closely related that Bible translators at times have great difficulty distinguishing between the human spirit and the Holy Spirit. In one version of the Bible the word spirit is spelled with a lower-case s, and in another version, it will be spelled with a capital S, and this is because it is difficult to tell if the writer means the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. But it really makes little difference, because in the redeemed spirit the Holy Spirit is always in full control. It is the soul that is rebellious, not the spirit.
The soul of man, represented by the king, has the power to reject the pleadings of the spirit. The will of man must always give consent to whatever occurs in his life. This is why God moves to bring to our conscience the full knowledge of the cross and resurrection, because then we are forced to either accept them and their full implications or deny them. Built into us is the ability to choose. Our soul was designed by God in this way. God does not force Himself upon us, but He pursues us, and we are captivated by the grace and mercy that is made available to us through the power of the resurrection. We see in the resurrected Lord Jesus all that He has made available to us, and we give ourselves wholly to Him to do whatever He wants us to do.
In the same way, when the king saw Esther standing in the doorway, he was again struck by her beauty and her spirit of humility as she came before him. He immediately lifted his scepter welcoming her into his throne room. As she stepped forward and touched the top of the scepter showing her gratitude for him sparing her life. The king then asked her what was troubling her that she would risk her life to come before him. Her response seems strange, she does not make the plea for her people, but instead invites the king and Haman to a banquet that she has prepared for the king. Why does she not plead her case right here? God is at work, and we shall see the purpose for this delay in the weeks ahead.
ESTHER’S BANQUET (Esther 5:5-8)
Ahasuerus immediately sends for Haman to come quickly so that they might go to the Queen’s banquet. This is quite an honor for Haman to be invited to dine with the king and queen. As the three drank their wine, I believe that this was at the end of the meal, the king again asked Esther what her petition was, and it would be granted up to half of the kingdom. Esther again delays the plea to save her people, instead she invites the king and Haman to another banquet that she will prepare for them the next day with the promise that she shall then bring her petition to the king. Why does Esther delay her petition again? I believe that Esther was acting on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. God is never content with a decision that is based on emotions alone. This is important for us to understand. Emotions can change from moment to moment. We have seen that Haman can move the king as easily as Esther can. If decisions are based on emotions alone, they will continuously shift back and forth whichever way the wind blows, whatever catches the king’s fancy at that time. God is not content with this, He wants us all in, full surrender. So, when a moment of surrender or dedication occurs, often God delays action to allow us to think the matter through and to allow our understanding to catch up with our feelings and our faith.
God knows that the king needs time to base his decision concerning Esther’s request on more than the warmth of love, the attraction that he has toward Esther at this moment, when she again caught his eye and made his heart beat faster. This decision had to move past emotion and become knowledge, he needs to understand certain facts, and in chapter 6 we will see how those facts are made clear to him. The essential truth that we are being taught from this passage is that all growth in grace requires that emotions must lead on to knowledge. Faith leads out first, but if our understanding doesn’t catch up, faith soon begins to fail. Jesus made this clear in John 8:32 when he said, “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32, NASB95)[4] He did not say that you will feel good about the truth, or even that you will believe the truth. Jesus makes it clear that we must know the truth, it must move from faith and our emotions to our understanding.
HAMAN’S ARROGANCE (Esther 5:9-12)
The banquet is over and Haman heads for home. We read that he left the palace joyful and glad of heart. He not only had the king’s ear and could sway him to do his bidding, but he was the only official that had been invited to dine with the king, personally asked for by name by the queen. Life could not be better. Then as he passed through the citadel gate, he saw Mordecai. Mordecai never stood, never bowed, did not even tremble from fear at the sight of Haman. All that joy and gladness of heart dissipated and was immediately replaced by anger and hate. We are told that Haman controlled himself and went on to his house.
When we get to Haman’s house, we see another reason that Esther’s plea for the lives of her people was delayed. The Holy Spirit uses this delay to prod the flesh within us to show its true self in an open display of pride and arrogance that shocks us, catches us off guard, and makes us realize the true condition of our hearts. Delay gives our flesh, our old nature the opportunity to become puffed up with a sense of its own importance and it will come to a point when it drops its subtle act and acts in such open arrogance that even we can see how rotten and evil our flesh is. Then we shall begin to judge it as an enemy rather than a friend.
This is what we see happening with Haman, he is so upset and angry with Mordecai’s show of disrespect. He seeks to relieve his wounded ego in the only way the flesh knows—by an orgy of self-praise. To read this almost makes you sick. He called together his friends and his wife and recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons which was ten, and every instance where the king had promoted him and honored him above all the other princes and officials of the king. Here we see a man full of himself.
There is nothing that soothes our battered ego more than the sympathetic listeners to the tales of our own abilities and glory. None of us have ever acted in such a way, have we? Whatever comes from the Haman nature, our flesh, within us is characterized by pride, and pride always blinds us. When we give way to pride and allow our Haman to rule our life, we become blind and stumble into some stupid, foolish action to our own detriment. Our old flesh with the help of Satan leads us, deceives us into acting or saying something prideful, we can become vain, arrogant, and then watch out. The kindest thing that God can do for us in those situations, is to allow us to become so puffed up in pride that we act in a way that shocks us and brings us back to our senses and we see the truth and confess our sin and move forward in our life with God.
The first four books of the New Testament recount for us the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In these books the Lord Jesus is seen continually stripping men of their false pretenses and showing them exactly what they are. If you read the encounters of Jesus with the Pharisees, you will see Jesus doing this all the way through the Gospels. Men would come to Him with questions that were designed to trap Him and show Him in a bad light. Each question was carefully worded to anticipate all possible answers that would make Jesus look bad in whatever way He answered. Again and again, Jesus would allow them to state their case, and then His answer would be so unexpected, so perceptive, that it would leave them humiliated, with all their deceitfulness exposed and open before the eyes of the crowd. They hated Jesus for this, they would gather in little groups and whisper together plotting His death. Our Lord knew what was going on, and as you go through the Gospels you see Him exposing them over and over and it drove them to the place where they arrested Him and crucified Him, which ultimately revealed them for what they were before the whole world.
Haman is displaying his pride for all to see, and to top it all off, he tells them, that he alone was invited by the queen to dine with the king and queen, not once but twice.
HAMAN’S PLAN (Esther 5:13-14)
But even with all his prideful boasting Haman says, “Yet all of this does not satisfy me every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” (Esther 5:13, NASB95)[5] Haman’s wife and friends are as evil as he is, they tell him that there is only one thing he can do to relieve himself and that is to get rid of Mordecai. If something is standing in the way of your self-expression and your need to satisfy your own ego, then get rid of whatever it is that is in the way. They suggest that he build a gallows 75-80 feet high, so everyone can see it, then tell the king to hang Mordecai on it and then go joyfully to the queen’s banquet. Remember that this term gallows does not suggest a hangman’s noose; rather it is a tall pole on which a man is nailed or impaled. It is, in effect, a cross. Haman liked the plan and had the gallows erected.
CONCLUSION:
This chapter shows us two opposites, humility and pride. Esther humbled herself before the Lord and said if I perish, I perish. Then she courageously and boldly went to the king, knowing it could mean her death, but to not go meant the death of her people, the annihilation of the Jews. She found favor in the eyes of Ahasuerus, and he extended the scepter towards her, and even with her life and audience granted we see Esther’s humility in the manner in which she responds to the king.
Haman is just the opposite; he is a prideful and hateful man. He is God’s enemy, and we understand why as he has exposed himself in arrogance and hate. Each of us has a Haman within us, do you recognize him for who he is even when he comes smiling and bowing and dripping with concern for your well-being? Do you recognize him when your patience wears thin, and you explode saying something that you wish you could take back. Or when someone else is recognized for all your hard work. Do you recognize your slimy “friend” when lust rises within you and you keep it hidden from others, but allow the thoughts to dwell in your mind so that you can play with them?
This is what put Jesus Christ on the cross. This is our enemy. God alone knows how to end his trickery and deceit and to defeat his evil purpose. He has already made the strategy known to us—it will be by means of a cross. “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.” (Romans 6:5–7, NASB95)[6]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.