Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Esther
On the very night Haman builds a gallows, the king cannot sleep. A chronicle is read, a question is asked, and the man Haman hoped to hang is paraded through the city instead.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/the-kings-sleepless-night · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Esther 6:1-14
As you read: The insomnia, the chronicle, and the honor Haman designed for himself given to Mordecai.
1On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.
2It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus.
3The king said, “What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
5The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.” The king said, “Let him come in.”
6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?”
7Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,
8let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set.
9Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”
10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.”
11Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”
12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered.
13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.”
14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
The pivot of the whole book is a sleepless king. On that night 'the king couldn't sleep,' and he commands the book of the records to be brought and read to him. The smallest detail in the story is the one God is using.
“On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king.”Esther 6:1
The chronicle records that Mordecai had exposed a plot against the king and was never honored for it. The king asks what has been done for Mordecai, and learns: nothing. The man Haman means to destroy is, at that very hour, owed the highest honor.
“It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. The king said, “What honor and dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.””Esther 6:2-3
Just then Haman enters to ask for Mordecai's death. The king asks him how to honor a favored man, and Haman, sure it is himself, describes royal robes, a horse, and a herald crying through the city. He has written the script for his own rival's glory.
“So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?” Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a crown royal is set. Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’””Esther 6:6-9
The king turns Haman's words on their author: hurry and 'do this for Mordecai the Jew.' Haman must array Mordecai and proclaim his honor through the square. The enemy becomes the herald of the man he hates.
“Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.” Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!””Esther 6:10-11
Haman returns with his head covered, and his wife and friends tell him that if Mordecai is of Jewish descent, he will surely fall before him. The reversal that began with a sleepless night is now past turning back.
“Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered. Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.””Esther 6:12-13