The Hidden Hand of God in Coincidence
The Territory of the Text
It is a great privilege to open up the Word of God with you and walk through Esther chapter six today. If you have your Bible with you, I want to invite you to turn to Esther 6. I have to admit, I was a little bit confused last week if we were still in Esther chapter six this week. I am the guy who puts the teaching calendar together, so as I was sitting out there and Brad walked through Esther 5 and started venturing into the waters of Esther 6, I was like, “Where are we going? Did I mistime this or did I get something wrong?”
He started going in there and I thought, “No, I think that’s where I’m going.” He looked over as he was teaching, caught eyes with me, and I gave him the “Hey, what are you doing?” face—like, “That’s my territory. Stay off my territory. That’s my text.” He told me later he saw my face. I said, “Yeah, I saw that we caught eyes.” He said, “Yeah, you kind of gave me a face.” I told him I was sorry, and he mentioned that at the other services when I wasn’t there, he actually went a little bit further into it. So, this may be a bit of a review for some of you, depending on which service you were at last week!
I love my job here at The Well. I really enjoy what we get to do, and I’m super grateful for a church that will open up the Word of God and deal with the hard things in the text. One of the beauties of looking at the whole Bible is that we get a full picture of who God is.
Big Miracles and Quiet Moments
Specifically, in my job early in the mornings, I get to teach the Old Testament to people who are half-awake at six in the morning drinking coffee—which is a miracle in itself that they come! But one of the cool things about it is that we get to walk through these very familiar, really fun stories in the Bible where we see God for all that He is. We walk through the Exodus, the plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea—moments in history where God puts Himself on center stage and, through the sovereign hand of miracle, becomes larger than life.
But there are also times when you’re walking through the text and you realize God is there, but He’s showing up in a different way. A few weeks ago, we walked through the story of 1 Samuel chapters 4 and 5, where the Ark of God gets stolen by the Philistines. They bring it into the house of their god, Dagon, and they put the Ark of God at the feet of Dagon. The text says that lo and behold, it just so happened that when they woke up the next morning, Dagon had fallen off his pedestal and was lying prostrate before the Lord. They thought, “That’s interesting.”
They picked up Dagon and put him back on his pedestal. They went to bed, and the next morning they woke up and it just so happened that Dagon had fallen off his pedestal again, but this time he was headless and handless. The Philistines said, “Isn’t that something? Maybe their God is at work among us.”
There was no earthquake. There was no big, spectacular event. But even the Philistines were able to recognize the hidden hand of God. They decided to give the Ark back. They sent it back to Israel and said, “Thank you, but no thank you. You take your God and all of His power with you.”
Providence vs. Coincidence
This begs the question: Is God any less present in the little stuff than the big stuff? Is He only present and working in the big-picture, fascinating, really cool moments of biblical history, or is He at work every day in all of the little things? Because Esther is not the story of God involved in the big stuff. Esther is the story of God involved in the little things. In fact, Esther is the story of God involved in the simple, everyday, seemingly mundane aspects of our lives. That is, in fact, where He most often shows up.
If you are looking at this from outside the world of faith, there are so many “it just so happened” moments in this book. We are tempted to look at that and say, “Isn’t that coincidental that these things happened the way they did?” I tongue-in-cheek called this message “The Hidden Hand of God in Coincidence” because that’s what it feels like. If you don’t know God, the temptation is to say, “Wasn’t that lucky?” or “That must be fate or happenstance.” But the Bible uses a different word to describe that: Providence.
Our God is at work, not just in the big things, but in the little things as well. As we talk about the book of Esther, remember that the author is trying to tell us something about what is most important. The book is written like a chiasm—like a mountain experience. Chapters 1 and 2 mirror chapters 9 and 10. Chapter 3 mirrors chapter 8. It goes all the way up to this mountaintop that is the central point of the book of Esther, and we are in it today. It is chapter six. The author writes this way to say: “Pay attention to what’s going on here,” because this moment is not going to feel like the climax. It’s not going to feel like the most important thing in the book, and yet it is.
Esther 6:1 (NASB)
During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king.
The Night Everything Changed
The text says, “During that night.” What night are we talking about? We need to back up for context. Last week ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. As you recall, Haman—the antagonist—is furious because Mordecai will not bow down to him. He puts out a decree to annihilate all the Jews and convinces King Xerxes to do just that.
Esther has taken Vashti’s place as queen. Her life is now at risk as a Jew, but she and Mordecai have been very undercover about their identity. Mordecai tells her, “If you remain silent in this moment, and if you don’t leverage this position, we are surely going to die. Maybe you have obtained royalty for such a time as this.”
Esther steps up. She risks her life to come before King Xerxes and invites him and Haman to a banquet. She plans to reveal her identity and Haman’s plot. Xerxes responds favorably, offering her anything up to half his kingdom. But then, something happened. She had the opportunity, but she waited. She didn’t have the conversation. Was it fear? Did she read the room? Was it the Lord intervening? We don’t know. She simply backed off and said, “Not today, but tomorrow. Let’s have another banquet tomorrow.”
Haman walks out proud, goes home to tell his wife about the banquet, but then he sees Mordecai. Mordecai refuses to tremble before him. Haman is furious. His wife, Zeresh, suggests building gallows—seven-story stakes—to impale Mordecai the next day. That night, Haman is literally awake erecting these gallows. And it is that very night that we find in chapter 6, verse 1.
What happens between these two banquets is the most pivotal moment in the entire book of Esther. I’m reminded of what Psalm 121 says: “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither sleep nor slumber.” Or Psalm 127: “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”
God is at work. He’s been at work this whole time, but we’re going to see Him through His hand of providence, working in the in-between spaces. We don’t see Him, but we see His work. Just as the wind brings fall into Fresno—we don’t see the wind, but we feel its effects.
The King’s Bedtime Story
In verse 1, we find that sleep fled from the king’s eyes. He commands his servants, “Find me something. Read me a bedtime story so it will put me back to sleep.” He asks for the book of records, the chronicles. These are the records of the Persian kings. If you’ve ever read the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles in the Bible, you know it’s not the most exciting reading; it’s a genealogy. “This guy begot that guy.”
Xerxes has been on the throne for twelve years, so he has twelve years of meticulously recorded history. He could have picked from any of those days, or even decades of history from the kings before him. Imagine going to downtown Fresno and saying, “Pick anything that happened at the courthouse on any day for the last fifty years and read it to me.”
Of all the things the servants could have picked, notice what they chose.
Esther 6:2 (NASB)
It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.
It just so happens they pick the record from four or five years ago when Mordecai saved the king’s life. Mordecai had overheard an assassination plot and told Esther, who informed the king. Xerxes remembers the name and asks, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?”
Esther 6:3 (NASB)
The king said, ‘What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?’ Then the king’s servants who attended him said, ‘Nothing has been done for him.’
It was common in that day to reward someone who saved the king’s life. We have historical accounts of people being made governors for such things. Yet, it looks like they completely whiffed on it. The servants say, “Nothing. Nothing has been done for him.”
They didn’t get him a card. They didn’t send flowers. No gift certificate to Chipotle. They did absolutely nothing. And this is the climax of the book! Of all the things we see—six-month parties, assassination attempts, planned genocide, gallows, and death—the climax is a sleepless king who needs a bedtime story? Yes. Because the stage is empty. It’s 2:00 AM. All the human players are gone. None of the actors are going to affect this situation. There is no heroine in Esther and no hero in Mordecai in this moment. It’s about something else.
Defining Providence
Why here? How does God operate in our lives? Sometimes God chooses to take center stage and says, “Watch me.” He parts the Red Sea. He brings the plagues. But that is not how God primarily works in our Bible. In 4,000 years of biblical history, there are only three major periods where God’s visible hand of miracle is the normative operating power: the time of Moses and Joshua, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Jesus and the Apostles.
What about the other 3,700-plus years of history? God moved through the hidden hand of providence. Sovereignty says God can work outside the natural laws through miracles. Providence is the idea of God orchestrating all contingencies, thoughts, and actions to affect exactly what He wants, when He wants, with whom He wants, in the most everyday moments.
Solomon acknowledged this when he said, “The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Joseph said it to his brothers: “As for you, you meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Think of it like baking a cake. None of the individual ingredients are particularly wonderful on their own. You wouldn’t eat a spoonful of flour or raw oil. But in the hand of a sovereign God, when they are mixed in the proper ratios, you end up with something powerful. God steps off the stage and acts as the puppet master, controlling the everyday aspects of our lives to bring about His will.
The Rearview Mirror
These moments are easy to miss because you don’t often see them while they are happening. It’s only upon reflection, looking backwards, where you say, “Oh, that makes sense now. I see what God was doing.” In the moment, you’re just going through the motions. But in the rearview mirror, they make sense.
This is certainly true for me. When I was a high school senior, I applied to 20 colleges. My requirements were simple: I either wanted to play soccer or be a ski bum. I wrote to coaches, sent letters of recommendation, and made phone calls. Do you know how many calls I got back? None. Not one.
So, I applied to schools in Colorado. I even applied to the Colorado School of Mines. I thought it was a mining college—I figured as long as it was 45 minutes from a ski slope, I’d be a mime! No problem! Then I looked at out-of-state tuition and realized that wasn’t happening either. I ended up at the University of North Texas. It was twentieth on my list. Dead last. I had zero desire to go there.
God brought me there. I rushed a fraternity, became a Sigma Nu, and did the typical knucklehead things. One day, my “big brother” in the fraternity told me I had to go to a Bible study on campus. As a pledge, I couldn’t say no. I showed up, and a guy from Campus Crusade for Christ walked me through the Gospel. He asked me how sure I was that I’d go to heaven. I said, “About 80%?” He asked why God should let me in, and I gave him my resume—just like I did with the soccer coaches.
He told me, “Mike, your best deeds are like filthy rags. It’s about what Jesus did on your behalf.” I heard the Gospel for the first time. I put my faith in Christ in October 1994—thirty years ago this month. My whole path changed. At the time, I was furious that I didn’t get to play soccer or move to Colorado. I had no idea God was at work. But in the rearview mirror, I see it so clearly. He introduced me to a church that loved the Bible, to men who discipled me, and He opened the door to ministry.
The Ironic Reversal
In Esther 6, we see a sleepless king reading about Mordecai while Haman is standing in the court.
Esther 6:4 (NASB)
So the king said, ‘Who is in the court?’ Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him.
Haman has come to ask permission to hang Mordecai. But before Haman can say a word, the king asks him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Haman, in his pride, thinks, “Who would the king want to honor more than me?”
One commentator said this is arguably the most ironically comedic scene in the Bible, where Haman magnificently trips over his own pride. Haman suggests a royal robe, the king’s own horse, a royal crown, and a parade led by a noble prince. He’s basically describing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with himself as the only float.
Then comes the crushing blow in verse 10.
Esther 6:10 (NASB)
Then the king said to Haman, ‘Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king’s gate; do not fall short in anything of all that you have said.’
“Do so for Mordecai the Jew.” Haman has to lead his enemy through the streets, proclaiming Mordecai’s honor. It is absolutely humiliating. This is the first of many reversals in the book. As another commentator put it, “God whoops Haman with his own stick.”
Haman goes home in mourning. His wife, Zeresh—who originally suggested the gallows—now says, “If Mordecai is of Jewish origin, you will not overcome him.” Even this pagan woman realizes that Haman has picked a fight with a people who have an invisible hand working in their favor. To borrow a title from a children’s book, this was Haman’s “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.”
Finding the Hidden Hand
God is intimately involved in the everyday, mundane aspects of our lives. He keeps His covenant promises. Even when His name is never mentioned in this book, He is everywhere. It’s a reminder that God is constantly on the move, but we have to learn to look for those moments. In the words of the great theologian Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Romans 8:28 tells us that God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him. Philippians 2:13 says it is God who is at work in you. Even in the hard times—even in Esther chapter 3 when the decree of death went out—God was not any less at work than He is here in chapter 6.
We are His workmanship, created for good works which He prepared beforehand. He wants us to join Him, but that requires an awareness of His hidden hand. It requires us to pause and ask, “What are you doing, God?”
As we finish today, I want to encourage you to close your eyes for a moment. Ask the question: “Where have I seen God work this way?” Maybe it was something spectacular, but maybe it was in the mundane. Take a moment to reflect on your week. Where has He shown up? Thank Him for those moments.
Father, we could take so much more time to recognize Your hidden hand. I pray that You would teach us to recognize it, to reflect, and to be aware of how You are constantly at work. Remind us that You are God, You are good, and You are moving. Help us, even in the hard times, to trust You. We thank You for the Gospel that transforms us and helps us to walk in intimacy with You. Amen.