Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Esther chapter 6 verses 1 through 6:
That night the king could not sleep, and he gave orders to bring the book of records, the annals, and they were read to the king. 2It was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had conspired to assassinate* King Ahasuerus. 3Then the king said, ‘What honour or distinction has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’ 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 just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5So the king’s servants told him, ‘Haman is there, standing in the court.’ The king said, ‘Let him come in.’ 6So Haman came in, and the king said to him, ‘What shall be done for the man whom the king wishes to honour?’ Haman said to himself, ‘Whom would the king wish to honour more than me?’ 7So Haman said to the king, ‘For the man whom the king wishes to honour, 8let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and a horse that the king has ridden, with a royal crown on its head. 9Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials; let him* robe the man whom the king wishes to honour, and let him* conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: “Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honour.” ’ 10Then the king said to Haman, ‘Quickly, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to the Jew Mordecai who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.’ 11So Haman took the robes and the horse and robed Mordecai and led him riding through the open square of the city, proclaiming, ‘Thus shall it be done for the man whom the king wishes to honour.’ 12 Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered.
A fascinating turn of events.
Mordecai, who seemed bound to be hung for failing to prostrate himself before Haman, the King’s attaché, is suddenly now showered with honors, while Haman, who grossly demanded respect and honor to a point of idolatry, is suddenly shamed in mourning.
As for the King — the King seems amoral in the tale. He rules by honoring and protecting those who honor and protect him. When Mordecai refuses to bow before the King, Mordecai is marked for execution. But when it is revealed that Mordecai has actually spared the King from a palace coup, Mordecai is suddenly robed in honor. The King’s moral judgments are self-consumed, and manipulatable; yet, ironically, they are also what end up assuring Mordecai the King’s honor and protection.
Such is virtue in the King’s court — self-serving, and even self-consumed, but not without its own logic, and even reward.
And in the end, all a part of the salvation of God’s people, “for just a time as this . . .”
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