Esther 6:1-14
Q.1. Who kept the king from sleeping? Who caused him to consult the book of records? Had the king rewarded Mordecai for saving him? What was Haman doing at the palace? – (Esth.6:1-4)
Haman had caused consternation in the kingdom of Ahasuerus, because of the edict to exterminate the Jews from his realm. Though this didn’t bother the king, it sure bothered God and His people (Esth.3:10-11)! Because the king couldn’t sleep, he asked that the chronicles of his achievements should be read (Esth.6:1). It was then that he was reminded about an assassination attempt that had been foiled by Mordecai. He asked his attendants – … “What honour or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” (Esth.6:3). With exquisite timing, Haman turned up to ask for Mordecai to be hanged on the gallows that he had constructed. The king sought his advice (Esth.5:14; 6:4-5).
Q.2. How did Haman want the king to reward Mordecai? For what reason? How was God convicting Haman and his wife over the Jewish purge? – (Esth.6:5-14)
Upon Haman’s entering, the king asked him – … “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honour?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honour more than me?” (Esth.6:6). He therefore unfolded a lavish plan, to which the king replied – … “Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.”(Esth.6:10). After fulfilling the king’s order, Haman went home and related all that had happened to his wife and friends. Zeresh and his companions made a prophecy – … If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him (Esth.6:13). God was driving home the sinfulness of their hatred of His people. In twenty-four hours, everything had turned around (c.f. Rev.18:8). In the midst of the gloom, the king’s eunuch arrived to take Haman to the banquet which had been prepared by Queen Esther (Esth.6:14)