Queen Esther’s banquet was set for the next day. Haman went home and bragged about the royal invitation. Then he added, But there’s one problem—everybody bows down to me except Mordecai the Jew. Hang him! said his wife. Build a gallows fifty feet high so everybody can see! Haman agreed, and the gallows was built.
But the account in the Bible tells us something that Haman did not know. Two doorkeepers at Shushan the palace were angry with the king and whispered their plan to murder him. Mordecai, who was Queen Esther’s uncle, heard of this secret plan to murder the king, and he told the king. The two would-be murderers were executed, and this plot and Mordecai’s telling the king of the plot were written in the history books of the kingdom.
The king had a bad night after accepting Queen Esther’s invitation, and he just could not sleep. Bring me the history books, he told his servants. Now read to me. When the account was read of the two doorkeepers’ plot to murder him, he asked, How was Mordecai rewarded for telling me about the plot?
He received no reward, said the reader.
Certainly God causes people to remember, but sometimes He causes us to forget. Do you have sins in your life that you want to forget? Unless your sins are washed away in the blood of Christ, they will come back to torment you forever! Won’t you come to that wonderful Saviour right now to have your sins washed away? He promises to reserve a place for you in heaven where there won’t be any sadness — only joy.
Then the king asked who was in the court. Only Haman was there, coming early to ask permission to hang Mordecai on the high gallows he had built for that purpose. Before Haman could ask about hanging Mordecai, the king asked him, What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?
Of course, that’s me, thought Haman, and he piled on all the honors he could think of — the king’s horse to ride on, the fanciest clothes, and an announcer to tell the people that this man was honored by the great king. Then the king ordered, Do all you said to Mordecai the Jew!
Haman couldn’t refuse the king’s order. It was done, every word of it, and he went home to his wife in total misery. His entire plan had turned upside down!
Boys and girls, and grown-ups too, don’t let this happen to you. Surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ right now, and you will find that in due time you will share His honors too. He knows all your secret sins, but He loves you anyway and wants you to share heaven with Himself.
Queen Esther’s banquet was only the beginning. She had another one the next day, and that was when she poured out her tears and her hopeful wish for the safety of her people. She begged the king for the lives of the Jewish people.
Who planned this crime? asked the king, and she put the blame where it belonged—Haman — who was sitting right there.
The king was furious! He went out into the palace garden. While he was gone, Haman begged the queen for his life, but it was too late. When the king returned, one of the servants suggested that Haman should be hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And that is what happened.
Have you found yourself in this story? You may come boldly, not fearfully, to Jesus, telling Him you are a sinner and that you want Him to wash away your sins. He will save you, not just for today, but forever!
Or you may refuse to come. Then your place is in this story too, not just for one day, but forever in that awful place where the fire is never put out. You are urgently invited to come and be joyfully washed clean from every sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. (John 1:7)). “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:77I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)).
Think About God’s Word!
1. Why did the king “delight to honor” Mordecai instead of Haman?
2. How do we honor the Lord Jesus Christ?
Project: Find as many people as possible in the Bible who honored the Lord. What did they do?