Thought for the Week

That night, the king could not sleep. I wonder why. Could it be indigestion from lunch or could it be God Who is working out His plan? At any rate, the king is wide awake. What should he do? He could have called for a concubine, or a minstrel show, or an orchestra or a choir concert. Instead, he chose to have the chronicles of the kingdom read. I expect a lot of those records were extremely boring. Perhaps that was the king’s thought. “I will be so bored, I’ll fall asleep.” But perhaps God now guides the hand of the attendant. He could have chosen something boring, or something of the war with Greece, or something a hundred years ago when Darius was king and Daniel was his right hand man; something of the jealous plot against Daniel and the night in the lion’s den when God’s mighty hand shut the lions’ mouths. But instead the attendant chose something from only a few years ago that Xerxes would likely recall. He chose to read of the episode when two of the king’s attendants, Bigthan and Teresh, plotted to assassinate the king. Mordecai overheard the plan, reported it to Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king. An investigation followed and proved the plot was real. The plotters were executed. Life went on. As he continued reading, the king was suddenly alert. He asked how was Mordecai honored and rewarded for his saving the life of the king? The reply was, “Nothing was done.” Certainly this was not right. So, immediately the king sought to rectify that. He asks whom of the king’s counselors is now in the courtroom. It was Haman. The king calls for him to come in and answer a king’s question. Haman has come early to ask for the life of Mordecai to get rid of him once and for all. But with this invitation, Haman’s pride must have grown. Yesterday he was invited to the residence of the queen. Today he is invited into the bedroom of the king. The king asks, what shall be done for the person the king delights to honor. No person named, no incident mentioned. Haman thinks, “Who in all the kingdom would the king want to honor more than me?” So he thinks of what he would like. Answer: Put royal robes on him, set him on a royal horse, put a royal crown on his head and have a nobleman lead him through the streets of the city shouting, “This is what the king does for the one he delights to honor.” The king’s command: “You do it for Mordecai, the Jew, who sits in the king’s gate.” Humiliated, Haman does everything he has proposed. All day, through every street, people bowing, not for Haman but for Mordecai. The day ends. Mordecai goes back to his post as though nothing special has happened. Haman, covers his head as though in shame and mourning and heads for home. There he pours out his woe and misery to his wife and friends. Perhaps they lament for him. But his wife offers a horrific judgment: “Since this Mordecai is a Jew, before whom you have begun to fall, you will utterly fall and come to ruin.” At that moment messengers come with the summons for Haman to come the banquet. He will likely be late, giving time for the king and queen to spend a few moments together.