Esther 6:1–2: “That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.”

November 21st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Haman’s wife and friends advised him to have a gallows built to hang Mordecai, and to ask the king to have him killed. The night before Haman planned to ask this of the king, the king couldn’t sleep and had the “records of the chronicles” read to him. No doubt the king and his servants thought that reading these records would put the king to sleep, but God had other plans. As they read, they came to the account of Mordecai saving the king’s life when the 2 eunuchs plotted to kill him. As a result, the king decided he should honor Mordecai. And so the next day Haman, instead of hanging Mordecai, had to personally honor him. It was not a coincidence that the king read these records the very night before Haman was going to ask to have Mordecai hanged; in fact, it was a God-incidence, a coincidence that has been divinely arranged by God.

There is an old joke about a man who was sitting on the roof of his house to avoid rising floodwaters. A boat passed by and the captain shouted, “We’re here to help! Grab hold of the rope!” The man said, “No, thanks. God will save me.” An hour later a helicopter flew over the house. The pilot said, “I’m going to let down the ladder! Climb aboard!” The man said, “No thanks. God will save me.” Two hours later the man ended up in heaven. Upon arriving he complained, “Lord, I believed in You! Why didn’t You save me?” The Lord smiled and said, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?”

It requires eyes of faith to tell the difference between a coincidence and a God-incidence. Some might argue that the king just happened to have trouble sleeping, and they just happened to read about the event involving Mordecai, and it just happened to be right before the hoped-for execution. Nope. All these little things, happening together at just the right time, were not so little at all. They were incidents engineered by the hand of God to save the life of Mordecai.

“LORD, give us eyes of faith to see You working in our lives today, and give us the grace not to miss any opportunities to help others come to You.”

=============================================================

Esther 6 KJV

¹ On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.  ² And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.   ³ And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. ⁴ And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. ⁵ And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. ⁶ So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?  ⁷ And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, ⁸ Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:   ⁹ And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.  ¹⁰ Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.  ¹¹ Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. ¹² And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. ¹³ And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him. ¹⁴ And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.