Evil begets evil...and pride comes before a fall...

Haman is full of himself, boasting about his position and achievements, and yet he is still not satisfied: Mordecai is spoiling his perfect life, his perfect view of himself by refusing to honour him: " “On top of all that,” Haman continued, “Queen Esther invited me to a private dinner she gave for the king, just the three of us. And she’s invited me to another one tomorrow. But I can’t enjoy any of it when I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate.”

How often do I let something 'small' - big to me, but 'small' in the big picture of things - get to me? Pride can have such a hold because it attacks us in deep places, places inside ourselves which we don't even know we have. Like having bookshelves in the cellar filled with books we wouldn't want others to see that we read: every time we let a sinful thought occupy our minds with attractive lies, we put another book on the shelf, instead of grabbing hold of it and burning it up so we are not tempted to look inside again.

Pride is like the love of money which leads us into all kinds of evil: and so with Haman:

His wife Zeresh and all his friends said, “Build a gallows seventy-five feet high. First thing in the morning speak with the king; get him to order Mordecai hanged on it. Then happily go with the king to dinner.”
Haman liked that. He had the gallows built."     Esther 5:12 - 14

Cold-blooded, outright murder. And what is just as shocking is that Haman's wife and friends suggested this to him.

I trust my husband to pull me up when I am out of line. I WANT to get it right and trust him to help me do so. He has done it,  many times. I don't like it at first, feeling misunderstood, judged, found wanting, even opposed...but, when I admit my pride in my own self-righteousness, I am often forced to admit that he is right.

Proverbs 14:22 reminds: "It’s a mistake to make evil plans, but you will have loyal friends if you want to do right."

And I do the same for him. We have, in the past, have had many 'discussions' during these times of stress. Perhaps Zeresh just wanted an easy life. Perhaps she was bullied. Perhaps she and Haman's friends were so fed up with him, going on and on about Mordecai, that they thought this would put an end to it. And, of course, the cultural context was a brutal one: why not, indeed, just get rid of anyone you didn't like, if it was within your power? "The proud and arrogant man...behaves with insolent fury."

Haman was, after all, the second most powerful man in the kingdom.

As for me: another interpretation of Proverbs 21:24 says: If you are proud and conceited, everyone will say, “You’re a snob!”

Warning enough.

Intrigued

The king accepts Esther's invitation and commands Haman to go with him.

Haman must have been so pleased: singled out for attention by the king and queen, as was his due. 

"So the king and Haman joined Esther at the dinner she had arranged. As they were drinking the wine, the king said, “Now, what is it you want? Half of my kingdom isn’t too much to ask! Just ask.”

Esther answered, “Here’s what I want. If the king favors me and is pleased to do what I desire and ask, let the king and Haman come again tomorrow to the dinner... Then I’ll give a straight answer to the king’s question.” "

The king has realised that Esther has something important to ask and is still feeling beneficent towards her. Again, he offers her virtually anything she wants.

Yet she doesn't ask. Does her courage fail her, particularly in front of Haman? Or is she deliberately building up the tension, to make the king even more curious and to show him just how important this question is to her?

Surely the matter is urgent. If she succeeds, messengers must go to all parts of the empire to rescind the order to massacre the Jews. If she delays, it could be too late. Still, the delay of one day - particularly in times when the pace of life was laboriously slow - was less important than complete success.

Proverbs 25:11 reminds that "The right word at the right time is like precious gold  set in silver."

Good words are exquisitely beautiful, full of God's grace and love. Not a gift I naturally have - I am more prone to blurt out the wrong thing. Good words benefit not only the hearer, but they add to inner beauty.

Esther builds up the tension. And Haman, in his vanity, only feels pride. Often, I am more like Haman than Esther, but, with God's grace, I do not have to stay that way...

"But in every part of me I discover something fighting against my mind, and it makes me a prisoner of sin that controls everything I do. What a miserable person I am. Who will rescue me from this body that is doomed to die? 25 Thank God! Jesus Christ will rescue me.

So with my mind I serve the Law of God, although my selfish desires make me serve the law of sin." Romans 7:23 - 25

Because "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back."

Esther 5:6 - 8

Unusual

So, Esther has feared for life by approaching the king uninvited, but, instead of punishment, she is welcomed warmly and generously. He even offers her half his kingdom!

I expected her to launch straight in with her message. After all, the situation is desperate and MUST be favourably resolved for Esther and her people.

She didn't. The days of prayer and fasting have made her wise.

"Esther answered, “Your Majesty, please come with Haman to a dinner I will prepare for you later today.”
The king said to his servants, “Hurry and get Haman, so we can accept Esther’s invitation.”
The king and Haman went to Esther’s dinner,"   Esther 5:4 - 5

Would I have had this wisdom and courage? Patience is hardly one of my virtues, but loyalty is: I can imagine having deep antipathy towards Haman, would-be murderer of my family. How could Esther invite HIM as well as the king?

This was so wise. Esther trusted God to give her the right words to say to the king. She knew that Haman needed to be present to hear the king's answer, so that he could not, later, deny all knowledge nor pretend that he had misunderstood any relaying of the message.

I pray that I would have the wisdom to approach problems patiently, carefully and with great wisdom. Only possible by waiting on God first in prayer.

Psalm 20:4 says: "May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed."

I pray that, first, HE gives me the desires of my heart. May it be HIS will in me. As it was for Esther.

Lessons from Esther; Esther 5

Whitney, at Love God Greatly, has this take on Esther:

"How can we confidently enter the hard places God has called us to, and become women that God can use? Together, let’s learn from Esther Chapter 5:

1. A woman God can use in the hard places is willing to take that brave first step…

It’s one thing to say you’ll do hard things, but it’s quite another to take that first step and stand in the “inner court,” risking it all. As we begin Chapter 5, we see Esther entering in to approach the king. A woman God can use does more than just talk. After proper preparation, she turns ideas into action, she follows through with her commitments, and she doesn’t let fear stand in the way of taking that first brave step, because she knows that the battle is the Lord’s (Prov 21:31).

2. A woman God can use in the hard places knows when to speak and when to remain silent…

The Bible is packed full of verses that talk about the tongue and its power. It has the potential to be used for good, but there is also great danger in speaking many words (Prov. 10:19). I find it beautiful, refreshing and convicting that as Esther enters the inner court of the king’s palace in Chapter 5, she wins the favor of the king without even speaking a word. A woman God can use knows when to speak and when to remain silent, because she knows it is God alone who has the power to move in the hearts of kings (Prov. 21:1).

3. A woman that God can use in the hard places earns respect instead of demanding it…

In Chapter 5, we see a stark contrast between the way Esther appears before the king and the manner in which Haman handles Mordecai’s irreverence to him. Esther is humble, deliberate and wise in her approach, and Haman responds with pride, wrath and vengeance. A woman that God can use earns respect instead of demanding it, because she finds her identity and worth in Christ instead of from the things of this world (Col. 3:3).

4. A woman that God can use in the hard places knows that God’s purpose for her life isn’t just about her…

The favor that is on Esther’s life to this point is really extraordinary. This girl has gone from orphan to Queen, and in Chapter 5, Xerxes is willing to offer her “even to the half” of his kingdom. But Esther doesn’t settle for comfort, and she’s not easily swayed by fame and riches. Esther remembers the task to which she has been called, and she remembers the lives that are at stake. A woman that God can use knows that God’s purpose for her life isn’t just about her, because she remembers a world in need of a Savior (1 Cor. 15:57).

Facing fear

Three days later, Esther goes to the king. Three days of prayer and fasting. Three days, in which Esther has faced the possibility that these might be her last three days left to live.

We think of those other three days, after Jesus had died and seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth, when the disciples' world had ended. Three days of grief.

Esther, too. In those three days, she faces death. Perhaps not for the first time: she endured the death of her former life when she was taken from Mordecai's family, the death of her innocence and purity; the death of her hopes for her future. Perhaps, even then, fearing she might lose her life if she did not please the king. Perhaps she had lived under threats for a long time. Esther was no stranger to fear.

Or, perhaps, her days of prayer and fasting had led her to a renewed faith, a greater sense of God's protection and an inner certainty that what she was doing would end well. Psalm 34:7 says that "God’s angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray."

Whichever it was, Esther had faced and overcome her fears and was now taking action to save her family.

"Three days later, Esther dressed in her royal robes and went to the inner court of the palace in front of the throne. The king was sitting there, facing the open doorway. He was happy to see Esther, and he held out the gold scepter to her.

When Esther came up and touched the tip of the scepter, the king said, “Esther, what brings you here? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom.”"

Whitney, at Love God Greatly, says: "But Esther saved the doubt and the drama, and instead responded with:“Then I will go.”

From preparation to service. From out from under the covers and into the hard places.

I want to crawl out from under the covers, don’t you? I don’t want to look back on my life and realize that in all of my hiding and avoiding and wishing hard things away, that I missed out on key opportunities to be used by God. At some point we actually have to get up, show up, and with much wisdom and trust in the One who holds the world in His hands, engage in the hard places He has called us to."

Death, for Esther, does not happen. The king was, after all, pleased to see her. Extravagantly so. (I guess he must have been drunk again. However did he manage to rule such a great empire?)

Esther's mission is destined for success. Even the combined wealth of all the Jews must be far less than the value of half of the Persian empire.

Too good to be true: of course. It was an empty promise. Still, this is a good sign - for the moment. What happens next, though, is not what we expect.

To be continued...