Esther for This Time #7 – God-Designed Comedy

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Mordecai Led Through the City by Haman by Azor Masters, Painting, 1420 AD, The Hague

God-designed Comedy

God-designed comedy can reverse calamity! Don’t you wish every tragedy turned into a good laugh instead? Sometimes, we think God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Today in our podcast on Esther, we cannot help but see the comedy from the hand of God that reverses a tragedy.

In Between Dinner Parties

In our last study, Esther asked the king and Haman to a festive banquet dinner she prepared. At the end of the dinner, Esther invited the king and Haman to a second dinner the next day. She delayed the real request because her discernment through prayer and fasting told her the timing was not right.  Between the two dinner parties, Haman bursts with pride to family and friends at being asked to dine twice with the king and queen of Persia. However, his joy disappears at the sight of Mordecai, who refuses to stand up in his presence. Today, we join the king, whose sleeplessness, ordained by God, leads to a reversal of circumstances. We cover these points:

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The Sleeplessness of the King Results in a Peripety (Esther 6: 1-12)

• The King can’t sleep, so he entertains himself by reading his annals – large volumes that record the history and accomplishments of a king’s reign.
• The King’s sleeplessness begins with peripety (pronounced “pe-rip-e-tē”). The term is used in dramatic arts to define a sudden reversal of fortune with a change in direction.
• In a tragedy, the plot turns a lead character’s fortune into ruin.
• In a comedy, the reversal changes tragedy into comedy.
• In Esther Chapter Six, we see both kinds of peripety.

God’s Reversals (Esther 6: 12)

• The king turns in his annals to an event that occurred five years earlier, only to discover that Mordecai’s service had NEVER been rewarded.
• Just then, Haman arrives at the inner court after constructing a 75-foot-high gallows for hanging Mordecai.
• Haman lusts for power and hopes to wear the King’s robe.
• The ancients attached great significance to wearing a royal robe. It was considered a mark of great favor and honor.
• Haman tells the king what could be done to the man whom the king wants to honor.

Haman Humbled (Esther 6: 13-14)

• Haman hated Mordecai and was greatly humbled when he proclaimed his greatness while wearing the king’s robes and crown and riding the king’s horse.
• God’s hand seems to create a peripety: Haman, once honored as second in power to the king, is humiliated, and Mordecai, in sackcloth and ashes, is exalted in the king’s robe and attire.
• Haman’s friends and wife Zeresh realize that the Jews worshipped a God, who seemed to be intervening.
• Haman did not know the warnings of Proverbs 16:18 and Matthew 23: 12.
• Proverbs 16: 18. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. NRSV-CE or
• Matthew 23: 12. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. NRSV-CE

 The Greatest Peripety of All (Ephesians 2: 4-6)

• The greatest reversal of all God planned since creation was our redemption from sin and eternal death through Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.
• It was the greatest REAL peripety of all.

Personal Reflection

In Esther Chapter 6, we see God’s hand at work reversing many situations. Which of the following principles do you find most helpful?

1.  Wait for God’s timing and guidance: He can intervene in your life with a miracle that changes everything.
2.  God intervenes in history when His people call out to Him with prayer, repentance, and fasting.
3.  Jesus Christ is your reversal of fortune—He died out of love for you to forgive your sins and offer you eternal life. Now is the time to accept His forgiveness as His plan for your life.

Memory Verses

You will want to remember these verses about God’s ability to intervene in the worst of circumstances:

• Isaiah 59:1. See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
• Jeremiah 32: 27. See, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me? NRSV-CE

Cup of JOY Women

• Consider forming a weekly one-hour Cup of Joy Women’s small group. Brief study guides accompany this podcast series, and you can begin anytime.  You will meet for only ten weeks and it’s free! Pray about accepting this opportunity to engage others and gently evangelize by meeting with one or more friends over coffee or tea in your home or church.
• For information, email Karen or go to Cup of Joy Women.

MORE ~Esther for This Time: A Ten-Part Series over the Book of Esther

• Esther for This Time #1—The Backdrop & the Party ~ Esther will show us that God never abandons us; He was faithful 2500 years ago and is faithful to you today.
• Esther for This Time #2 – The Queen, the Refusal & the Bad Advice  ~ Pursue God’s true wisdom instead of worldly counsel from those motivated by power.
• Esther for This Time #3 – The Spa & A New Queen   ~  Hear how the attractiveness of the heart wins friends and favor and see God’s providence begin unfolding quietly.
• Esther for This Time #4 – Unwavering Resolve & the First Edict   ~ Only God can deliver a people from destruction; With prayer and resolve, He can and He will.
• Esther for This Time #5 – Your Mission For Such a Time as This ~  View powerful examples of interceding for a nation in desperate times.
• Esther for This Time #6 – Pray, Wait and Discern   ~  Esther demonstrates the value of prayer, but also why it’s important to wait and discern God’s solution.
• Esther for This Time #7 – God-Designed Comedy  ~ Enjoy the change: God reverses calamity with a sense of  ~ humor.
• Esther for This Time #8 – Reversals Begin ~ God loves reversals and offers creative solutions to problems; He can make them happen for you, too.
• Esther for This Time #9 – Creative Solutions and MORE Reversals  ~ Watch the reversals unfold through prayer, and the nation’s deliverance brings a desire for conversion.
• Esther for This Time #10  –  Celebrate God’s Goodness & the Feast of Purim  ~ Join the celebration; God delivers his people from their enemies and will do the same for you.

Links

• Download Bookmarks from this podcast series: WRAPyourselfinJOY.com.
• Check out more podcasts here!
• Click here to find the book Esther For Such a Time As This: Prayer, Reversals, and JOY
• Join my newest podcast  Ruth – Finding JOY in Tough Times and Trusting in God’s Goodness.