Esther 6 … Consider Him Who Will Not Be Overcome

Originally posted: 7/30/2020

“If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him,” (6:13).

Poor, pitiful Haman. Yesterday, recounting the glory of his riches.

Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, and the number of his sons, and every instance where the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him above the princes and servants of the king, (Esther 5:11).

Today, recounting the humiliation of his interaction with the king and Mordecai.

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him… (6:13).

As God would have it, the king couldn’t sleep; so, he ordered the book of records be read to him (that’s what kings did before TV). And as God would have it, the account of Mordecai disclosing the plot to assassinate the king is read. And the king wondered; Hey, did we ever honor that guy, Mordecai? So, who’s here I can ask? Haman? Well, bring him in.  

So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?” (6:6).

It’s one of those scenes that invokes mixed emotions. When the bad guy gets theirs. You know… you kind of feel sorry for him (kind of); but you are also really glad that he gets what he deserves.

And poor, pitiful, prideful Haman better get ready… because here it comes.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall, (Proverbs 16:18 ESV).

As Haman’s ego takes a plummeting nosedive, he is forced by the king’s order to give the honor he had outlined for himself to his nemesis, Mordecai, the Jew.

And rather than being paraded upon the king’s royal horse, wearing the king’s royal robe and crown and hearing his praises touted, Haman drags himself home, with his tail tucked firmly between his legs, defeated and disgraced.

And his wife and his friends offer him their counsel. Now, the last time we heard from these guys their counsel played right into the hands of the Lord (as we will see tomorrow).

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows fifty cubits high made and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully with the king to the banquet.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made, (Esther 5:14).

This time their counsel is actually, well… wisdom from above.

Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him,” (6:13).

It’s important to recall a few things. The fact that Mordecai was merely Jewish could not possibly be the Overcoming power they had in mind. Remember the edict?

Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder, (Esther 3:13).

It is not far-fetched to imagine the Jewish people were not considered a strong force to be feared. When these wise men spoke of Jewish origin, they were not referring to the Jewish people; they were speaking of the God of the Jewish people.

No man will be able to stand before you; the Lord your God will lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you, (Deuteronomy 11:25).

The Lord’s provision for His people had earned a reputation that ushered in dread, proven time and time again.

And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel, (2 Chronicles 20:29).

Do all the workers of wickedness not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?
⁵ There they are in great dread,
For God is with the righteous generation, (Psalm 14:4-5).

It is clear that behind their prediction of Mordecai’s imminent success, it was the God of Israel they had in mind; the only God Who Will Not Be Overcome.

“If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him, but will surely fall before him,” (6:13).

Consider Him Who Will Not Be Overcome

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for His Purposes will never be thwarted
  • “I know that You can do all things,
    “And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted,” (Job 42:2).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He will Overcome His adversaries
  • Therefore the Lord God of hosts,
    The Mighty One of Israel, declares,
    “Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries
    And avenge Myself on My foes,” (Isaiah 1:24).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for none can turn back His Hand
  • “For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for there is none like Him
  • There is none like You, O Lord;
    You are great, and great is Your name in might, (Jeremiah 10:6).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for nothing is too difficult for Him
  • Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You, (Jeremiah 32:17).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for all of nature obeys Him
  • He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. ²⁷ The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:26-27).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for nothing is impossible for Him
  • “For nothing will be impossible with God,” (Luke 1:37).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He has Overcome the darkness
  • The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it, (John 1:5 ESV).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He has Overcome the world
  • “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He has Overcome death
  • But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power, (Acts 2:24).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He has Overcome the accuser
  • “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night,” (Revelation 12:10).

• He Will Not Be Overcome; for He is the Almighty God Who Reigns
  • Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns,” (Revelation 19:6).

How do we respond to Him Who Will Not Be Overcome?

Let’s begin by listening with ears of faith. He has told us in His Word, repeatedly, in so many words, that He Will Not Be Overcome. If we believe Him, that will bring us peace.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).

And like Mordecai, we will Not Be Overcome, because He is our God and we belong to Him.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, (1 John 4:4).

Today let us choose faith. Oh, may the Lord grow us in our faith, to really believe all He has declared in His Holy Word of Truth. For when we believe, truly believe, that because we belong to Him through faith in Jesus Christ that we too will Overcome, we will have the victory in Him Who Will Not Be Overcome.

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith, (1 John 5:4).

Let’s Grow Together!