Study Notes From Esther Chapter 6

God has a sense of humor. This may be the funniest chapter in the Bible but also one of the best examples of a godly man not lording it over his enemy’s shame.

6:1-4, God shows up to intercede for Mordecai, Esther, and the Jews. From His heavenly throne, God keeps the king awake. It seems the king combats insomnia by reading his own history. Tonight, God chose his reading material and Xerxes learns Mordecai’s act was unrewarded.

God, when writing the book of Esther, did not record Mordecai as prideful. Even when he saved the king’s life, he never said anything when unrecognized. Both Xerxes and Mordecai seem to have forgotten the episode.

Mordecai’s unpretentiousness is similar to Daniel when he brushed off Belshazzar’s gifts of the royal robe and the gold chain. (Daniel 5:17) A pagan king’s rewards are cheap trifles when your King is Almighty God.

"Let another man praise you. and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips." Proverbs 27:2. 

"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven" Matthew 6:1.

Mordecai is a great example of Peter’s exhortation, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” 1 Peter 5:6.

The servants in the gate put Mordecai and Haman in a battle of wills, (3:2-5) Now Mordecai’s faithful stance is holding and he appears to be winning. Haman, on the other-hand, though he exalted himself, is about to be brought low.

Mordecai did nothing but prepare for God’s answer with fasting and prayer. He exhorted Esther to speak on their behalf and sought God’s protection in faith. When he knew Haman’s sanctioned plot was set to destroy him and his people:

He did not storm the castle.

He did not attack Haman personally.

He did not override Esther's free will.

He trusted Esther's own personal faith.

He fasted and prayed.

He trusted God.

Paul exhorts us to wield the sword of the Spirit with care. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

We learn obedience through practicing the meekness of our Lord Jesus Christ. For although He has all the power that holds creation, He never uses it to subvert His greater plan of salvation. The pain and humiliation was overcome in victory by obedience. (Hebrews 12:1-3). Mordecai’s obedience sets the stage for Haman’s punishment from God.

Mordecai has let God have the glory. “For whoever humbles himself will be exalted and whoever exalts himself will be humbled” Matthew 23:12.

6:5-11, God has begun to show Himself to the condemned Jews when Haman is forced into the humiliating position of delivering the king’s blessing to Mordecai. The very blessing Haman had imagined his own. The city is seeing the beginning of the end for Haman.

6:12, “Afterward, Mordecai went back to the king’s gate” seems an understatement.

When we see God lift a great burden, we praise with joyful hearts and voices. His time of fasting is over and this is answered prayer. Here, Mordecai appears silent as he waits on God. He still has to wait for Esther to plead to the king.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10.

But there is a stronger witness from Mordecai as he does not lord it over Haman for the episode in the city square. He leaves room for God to bring Haman’s defeat.

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him” Proverbs 24:17.

God sees our pride and if displeased, He has the privileged of lifting our enemies back up and not punishing them because we took it upon ourselves to condemn them in their troubles.

In what circumstances might we fail our witness by being prideful?

Haman is now falling before the eyes of the city. Xerxes still is blind to Haman’s jealousy, but it has been in plain sight to all the residents of Shushan. (see J. Vernon McGee’s notes) And God knows Haman’s heart.

6:13-14, Haman has a houseful of eager gossips awaiting his remarks but the man is in defeat. His wife makes the fatalistic statement, “Husband, you’re doomed.”

Esther’s banquet likely forgotten and when he’s summoned back to the palace it was probably the last thing he wanted. For going back to the palace meant being seen by the people as if he’s being ‘taken’ to the king. This could have been avoided if he had only reentered the palace after he had presented Mordecai with the king’s reward.

This entire chapter showcases God’s power over all circumstances, over the evil and the good. Our faith is in the Living God. The Bible is our way of learning about God, there is no other book that showcases Him and Him alone.

"Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him."—Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Lesson Points:

1. The subject of the book of Esther is God, not Esther

2. When your enemy falls, do not boast in pride at their defeat.

3. Our patient faith glorifies God

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Don't Interrupt My Song To God!

I can't sing. I can't read music. I do not know what the notes are in the music scale. I can't go up or down in a lyric until I've heard someone else sing it. I sing mostly in monotone. After I have learned a song by mimicry, I can then do a good rendition of it from whomever I have learned the song.

For all of that, I enjoy singing to God.

I am not sure if I would say I have a handicap to the singing part of worship, but it means I need the Song Leader to sing the songs the same way each time. I need the Song Leader to sing what is written in the Hymnal, the Chorus Book, on the overhead screen, or on the song sheet I have been given. If the song is going to be sung differently, the Song Leader needs to tell me at the beginning and lead me in the new set-up. Don't change it in the middle of the song.

I am singing to God. My voice is lifting to God. My mind is on God. I am worshiping God.

When I sing in a church service, or where God is worshiped, I am following the written lyrics, or memorized lyrics, word for word. Because of this, when the Song Leader's voice breaks in to say something not on the page or screen, suddenly I am interrupted. My mind is stolen from God because I have to stop to find out what the person wants me to do.

They've stolen my worship when they break into the lyrics to say something.

There have been issues where older congregations have failed to embrace the new music of worship. I tend to enjoy the older hymns and choruses also but on examining what I dislike is what I am explaining here. I can sing along with the 'contemporary' music on the radio with no difficulty lifting my voice to God with the newer style. I don't mind singing with a guitar, drums, horns, or any instrument but I need that instrument to be helping me to sing my worship to my Lord and Savior. I've discovered it's not the music, so that leaves the presentation.

What I need in a church service is for the Song Leader to lead me in singing of praise to God.

Please, if you are a Song Leader, simply do that for those of us who haven't your musical skills.

Singing the same verse/chorus repeatedly does little to help me worship. I end up wondering how many times we're going to repeat this after the first five or six times. That means I've been stolen from God.

If I have the words in front of me, I don't need to be reminded what verse I'm on. An instrumental solo isn't necessary either.

I can sing with a full orchestra in church but they need only help me in worship of God. I like good music, and I like all sorts of music but when I'm singing to God that's what I am doing. The Song Leader is just that---The Song Leader, leading me in singing to Almighty God.

When it's time to sing to God, lead the singing. Don't interrupt my worship.

Don't interrupt my song to God!

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The Sweetness Of God Changing Us, also known as, The Chocolate Pie Mix

Instant chocolate pudding mix was

created to become something more

I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  Romans 12: 1, 2

Every person born is created by God to worship Him. But does that happen? No.

Imagine a nice golden pie crust as God. He is available and ready to receive everyone. Now pour us, the instant chocolate pudding mix into this crust. Now there's just a pile of dark brown powder in the center of the crust. It has neither adhered to itself nor to the pie crust.

Doesn't do much for the appetite does it?

Can the powdered mix make itself into something more appealing, even though it's sitting inside the crust? No.

So, as this instant chocolate pudding mix, we are incapable of changing into something else. We’re just not going to make a pie of ourselves in the state we are in. Dust, powder. Nothing. No one would want to eat pie crust filled with chocolate powder.

But, God wants us to be in Him. To do that, we have to change into people who can worship Him. People who are in Him.

Imagine cold milk as the Holy Spirit. Now this chocolate powder wants to be a pie in God, so God pours in the Holy Spirit. Instantly, there is a change! God whisks us around, changing us. The instant pudding mix has now become something new. Now when in God, the pie crust, we are made a beautiful pie, sharable, sweet, and delicious.

To get to this new creation, we needed the Holy Spirit in us and then some whisking around to make us something we weren't before. But being beaten with a whisk is painful, disgusting, and messy.

Nevertheless, it had to happen. It is the only way to get us into what God wants us to be. This takes some changes we may not like, but in the end, we are better than we were before.

Because God loves us, He saves us. Jesus saves us and God immediately changes us. It is a fact of the Christian life. Otherwise, we are not part of Him. Lack of God’s changing us is visible to everyone. Other Christians know it and the world knows it. If you don’t change under God’s love and instruction, the world knows you are not a Christian. You won’t fit in the pie. You're just loose powder that can be blown here and there without the Holy Spirit, the mixed in milk, and without any adherence to God, the pie crust.

Expiration dates on packages mean that stores have to throw food away. Think of the millions of instant chocolate pudding boxes that get thrown into the dumpsters, never made into a pie. They’re lost forever, burned in incinerators and thrown on dumps.

Those people never asked God to save them or forgive them and they expired, their time was up and they are forever lost.

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The Children's Program----Flash Fiction

This fictional story is based on an actual children's skit I designed when I was teaching the 4 & 5 year olds in our Children's Program. The skit was never enacted, and I should also say neither did we have any of the disasters on stage that are mentioned. The personalities do not represent any known, or unknown, children, teachers or congregations.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Children's Program

     In taking her new position as the new Sunday School teacher of the four and five year olds, Sarah knew one of her duties would be for her class to deliver a performance in an end of the season program. This was a church tradition from the adults down to the youngest when the Sunday School classes ended for the summer months.

     She enjoyed her time with the children, yet she couldn't help but recall the horrors of the past. The incidents of children, and even the teachers, fighting on stage. Costume malfunctions or no one sang except the teacher, or children crying and running from the platform. Several years, no one learned their lines and teacher cued each word for word so the entire skit was an echoed speech, with the teacher speaking and the child repeating it back. Not wanting to present a similar disaster, with the age she was entrusted with, Sarah wondered if her class would be able to do anything.

     With the requirement in mind, during the ensuing weeks, she learned her children’s personalities. Amanda was shy and very small for her age. Harry liked to talk and chattered away sometimes incessantly. Freddy liked attending, but as his parents had joint custody, missed every third week away visiting his father. Sylvie would take off her shoes and socks as soon as she entered the building, frequently forgetting where she left them. Ginny disrupted the class screaming for her Mommy. At her mother’s request, if her antics became too unruly, punishment meant banishment to the nursery. This was unfortunate, as Ginny learned this trick and she would go smugly to play with the babies, whenever Sarah couldn't take it anymore. Naomi and her sister Valerie were the smartest and studied, answering well and asking good questions. Then there was Christopher the bully. Many times Christopher spent some of his Sunday School time standing in the corner for having hit, kicked or bitten someone, namely Sarah. Occasionally a new child would come for only one Sunday, or possibly a few weeks.

     Easter came and went and Sarah still hadn’t anything planned. When asked about it she would answer she was working on it but she knew it was a half-lie, which made her feel worse. She feared producing the disaster everyone seemed to expect. During the first week of May, she spent her noon lunchtime fasting and praying while seated in her car in the parking garage where she worked, her open Bible on the steering wheel. Pausing from her reading, she said, “God, it seems such a simple thing, why is it such a complicated task when it just involves these little children? You know them, Lord Jesus. There must be something they can do for you.” Refocusing on the Bible, she smiled, for there in front of her was the simplest answer.

      The day of the end of the season program, Sarah felt proud when all seven children attended. They had all enjoyed rehearsals, with Christopher taking his roll with gusto and Ginny apparently willing to participate.

     Her class performing first, Sarah assembled them behind the curtain on the left side of the stage. Their only prop was a huge refrigerator box lain horizontally on a rolling platform Sarah had requested made. She could feel the stares of the congregation and their skepticism, knowing they anticipated the traditional fracas. Saying a small prayer with her children, she nodded for them to go out, while shushing the giggling girls.

     Christopher, Harry, and Freddy pushed the refrigerator carton to the center of the stage. Sarah followed, taking her place behind the box as the boys stood to either side, Harry and Freddy on the left and Christopher on the right. None of the girls was in sight.

     Sarah smiled at the staring faces, pleased to see the parents in the crowd. With no preliminaries, she opened the skit by reciting Hebrews 12:1. “I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” When she finished, the boys, in unison, loudly yelled, “What can we give to Jesus?”

     Immediately, the top of the box flew open and the four girls popped into view, arms raised, and tossing streamers of colorful paper. All seven children and Sarah, arms raised, yelled the answer “Ourselves!”

     With the platform littered with the streamers and each child smiling broadly, they took their bows. Then the boys shoved the box back behind the curtain, with the giggling girls still in the box. Off stage, the children clustered around Sarah, anxiously waiting for the response. For a moment the auditorium was silent, then someone began to clap, and then another, and so on until the entire room was applauding.

     Sarah quickly shooed the children onto stage to take another bow then hugged them all tightly as they came rushing back again. Kissing their faces, she said, “Thank you, Jesus, for trusting me with these children.”

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Hosting Parties is Biblical

"...Prepare a guest room for me, for I trust, 

through your prayers I shall be granted to you" 

Philemon 22

Even before Mother gave the responsibility to me in my early twenties, I had hosted many of the holiday cooking at her house and sometimes at my sibling’s houses. Since I liked it so much, Mother finally gave the family holidays to me.

Today, my home is a large farmhouse, built in the 1820s. It’s nice but it needs much help. It has odd smells, stains, and is very static in the arrangement of furniture. While many people have visited, entertaining has limits.

In the winter, with the woodstove cranking out the heat, guests are elbow to elbow on the opposite side of the room, far enough so as not to be charred. To watch the sports on the television causes a major shift and someone inevitably, from the next room, looks through or over the semi-circle of the fortunate facing the screen. In the summer, the decay of the fallen down barn invades through the open windows.

 

Without a proper dining room, it takes imaginative rearranging. To accommodate more than six, a sheet of plywood lays atop my table. This means shifting the refrigerator against the cupboards by the kitchen sink, thus rendering four useless and causing a shortened counter top. While the stove is in use, no one can sit on that side of the table until all the cooking is complete.

 For all of this, hosting is wonderful and I would do it more often.

My hosting imagination has designed a specific Dream House. It has the normal master bedroom with full bath, kitchen, guestroom, home office, and household bath with washer and dryer.

However, my fantasy has yards of floor space, set with easily rearranged furniture. To accommodate crowds, there’s a custom kitchen with at least two ovens, a six-burner range, a grill, separate freezer and refrigerator, an island with food-prep sink, and long reaches of counter space. There’s casual serving dining bar with stools but the capstone is comfortable dinner seating for a dozen with addition to serve more. To have such a venue sounds wonderful.

I love cooking. I love hosting. I love the gathering of all the hundreds of paraphernalia my guests may never notice. I like searching for new and exciting recipes. I love giving gifts and trinkets. I love the table settings and centerpieces. I love doing the little things and arranging the surprises.

Hospitality, and kind, friendly behavior 

should be a trait highly visible in Christians

My largest entertaining accomplishment to date is organizing a Harvest/Hunter’s Supper at my home church. While I didn’t do all the cooking or necessary gathering, I was the go-to person. Even so, credit goes to our small congregations’ involvement and the praise was all to God’s blessing the event.

"It was awesome!"

The turnout was fantastic and we fed almost hundred people, many who had never been in a church before. I couldn’t stop praising God.

Another ministry opportunity came as my Husband and I hosted a Thanksgiving Day meal at our church for the people in our congregation who had no place to go. That was very satisfying knowing they weren’t sitting alone on this day of giving of Thanks.

Anyone who enjoys cooking enjoys watching their guests eat what they’ve prepared. When the only sound is rattling silverware, you know you succeeded. Like when a stranger buys one of my paintings without ever meeting me. My work has spoken for itself and my presence is unnecessary for their approval.

“(be) hospitable, a lover of what is good, 

sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled” Titus 1:8

My Dream House is an inviting place where people want to be. It is open to Missionaries, pastors and their wives, and other traveling guests. I imagine holidays, ceremonies, Bible study groups, children’s Bible groups. Best of all, I imagine inviting unsaved people for good food and fun. In my open home, I’d introduce them to my Jesus and His free salvation. I would tell them of heaven and its awesome splendor that outshines my temporary house on earth.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” 

Colossians 3:2

Looking to Heaven and describing my Dream House? It’s a slimy, water-slogged, decaying, moldy mud hut compared to my Heavenly Father’s house.

"But while I’m on earth, I would like to host parties, 

especially where Christ is always welcome

 and gets to meet with people at my table"

"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, 

sweetness to the soul and health to the bones"

Proverbs 16:24

The Center Piece

Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right 

and another on the left" Matthew 27: 38.

When hosting a special meal, I always like to put a centerpiece on my table. I enjoy setting my best dishes and formal silver, napkins and glasses in their proper place. It sets the mood and is pleasant to the eye. I believe my guests enjoy the extra touches as we gather to eat.

Jesus was the centerpiece of another setting. Placed precisely as the Father intended on a cross to die. This wasn't lovely, or pleasant, or inviting. But Jesus' death is central to the salvation of all believers. Without Jesus as the center of our faith, we have nothing to believe. 

Jesus is in the middle of the believer's life, faith, learning, knowledge, speech, action, love, witness, fellowship, relationships, work, leisure, health, and wealth, in who we are and where we live. Jesus is the center-piece. Our lives mean nothing without the ugliness of the cross, and the love of God, up front and visible to us.

Someday, we will see Jesus face to face and see the love that kept Him on the cross and our centerpiece will truly be the center of everything.

Let Jesus set in the extra special center of your life.

 

Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

A recipe that supplies the right dish for any occasion is the best recipe.

• *Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

• Dump Cake

• Crazy Cake

• Wacky Cocoa Cake

• Depression Cake

• Eggless Cake

• One Bowl Cake

  (*See recipe below)

I grew up making Poor Man's Chocolate Cake. As time went by, I learned I was making all these others as well. I would exchange favorite recipes with someone and we would laugh because it would be the same cake, only under a different name.


From the mid 60s through the 70s, my family was on the lower end of the economic scale in our town. Father struggled to make ends meet and he slipped into alcohol troubles pretty quickly, which led to more troubles in our family. He always seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong things.

But Father was a very good engineer, and machinist, designing gadgets that would enhance our lives, yet they never quite came to fruition. He could draw a 3-D plan of an engine, or a machine, or some mechanism, and do it from several angles and cut-away drawings. I regret that none of his drawings were saved.

We lived without electricity for 11 years of my life  (Age 4 - 15) The power lines stopped a half mile from us on the east side and a mile from us on the west side. We were the only house on this 'power-less' stretch of road and the power company wouldn't connect the lines just for one household. There was no way we could afford to pay to have them put in.


We were poor, and without electricity. We had a hand pump in the kitchen and a convenient little building at the end of the shed. We used kerosine lanterns and lamps. We had battery operated everything; radios, tape players, record players and even a Television.

Father began machining the blades for a windmill, using the IT lab at the High School during Adult Education classes. He didn't need the classes, just the tools. But it never was finished and the huge blades rusted in the shed over the years. He drew the entire structure in detail and those drawings fascinated me.

One convenience Father did rig was a gravity-fed system that brought the oil to the furnace in the basement and the oil/gas stove in the kitchen.

One of the things we children got from living 'off the grid' so to speak was an immense amount of freedom. Mother and Father liked to go dancing, fishing, and out to play card games 83 or cribbage with friends, leaving us kids home for the evening or the night and sometimes the whole weekend. I suppose that would be frowned on today but we children loved it.

Amid our wild, crazy nights of freedom, I learned to cook.

It wasn't so much of a need, for Mother saw we had something to eat; I did it because there were no restrictions against it while we had the run of the house. For a time there were five if us children, then my oldest brother left at age 12 to live with a family near where he worked and my older sister, at age 17, went to live with friends in Massachusetts. That left three of us, my next oldest brother, myself and our little sister. We had a lot of fun. It's great when your best friends are your siblings.

I began simply with eggs, toast, fried potatoes, and all sorts of canned food before age 7. Before my eighth birthday, I was making cookies, cornbread and muffins, biscuits and bread puddings. When

Mother and Father discovered I could cook, the kitchen was available for me any time. Before age 9, I was up to American Chop Suey, potato salad and meatloaf. Fish from the lake nearby our house, I would fry or bake. I made stews and soups, rice and pasta dishes.I learned to bake chicken, turkey, and roasts before age eleven. I was baking pies at age 12.

And somewhere in there, I learned how to make Poor Man's Chocolate Cake. It is still my favorite go-to recipe if an occasion calls for cake. It is a simple recipe, easily enlarged or reduced. It can be layered or single, as cupcakes or minis.

There is another aspect to simple recipes and detailed drawings. God designed intricately for the salvation of everyone and described it to us throughout the entire Bible.We also have the simplicity of it in that Jesus death on the cross and His ressurection is the absolute best recipe for salvation. 

I learned God loves me

My salvation is easily the best recipe.

 "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17. (NKJV)

 Jesus crucified once = eternal salvation

 That's a good presentation for eternity.

* Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

Grease an 8 x 8 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 Tablespoons vegetable/canola oil
2 Tablespoons white or cider vinager
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water

In medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (You may sift dry ingredients but it is not necessary) Add remaining ingredients. It is best if the vinegar is the final addition as it tends to work fast. Mix quickly, beating or whisking until the batter is smooth and creamy. Pour into cake pan and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. I usually cook it between 27 & 28 minutes.

Cool cake and frost with your favorite icing.

Mini cakes with peanut butter frosting