Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

The extraordinary of the ordinary

Bryan Schneider · February 20, 2021

Esther 6

sharonrpc.org/sermons/the-extraordinary-of-the

Summary

Esther 6 turns on an ordinary sleepless night through which God's hidden providence reverses the apparent triumph of Haman.
The king discovers that Mordecai once exposed an assassination plot but received no reward, and he seeks immediate counsel about honoring him.
Proud Haman assumes the honor is for himself and designs a public display approximating royal status.
The king commands Haman to bestow every proposed honor upon Mordecai, the very man Haman arrived intending to have executed.
Haman's humiliation and Mordecai's exaltation begin the reversal that will preserve God's threatened covenant people.
God ordinarily governs through unspectacular events, decisions, timing, relationships, and human actions rather than constant visible miracles.
Providence does not promise the American dream or freedom from grief; God works even tribulation, loss, and persecution toward his people's true good and his glory.
Believers can trust that nothing separates them from Christ's love and remain attentive to God's rule in every ordinary moment.

Why is the king's sleepless night the decisive turning point in Esther 6?
What earlier act of Mordecai is rediscovered in the royal chronicles?
What does Haman's proposed reward reveal about his ambitions and view of himself?
How does the king's command reverse Haman's plans for Mordecai?
Why is God's ordinary providence no less powerful than a visible miracle?
Which ordinary people, decisions, delays, and circumstances has God used in your own conversion or growth?
Why must Romans 8:28 not be reduced to a promise that personal plans will succeed?
How can tribulation coexist with the assurance that nothing separates believers from Christ's love?

Providence: God's holy, wise, and powerful preservation and government of every creature, action, and circumstance.
Ordinary means: Common events and actions through which God quietly accomplishes extraordinary purposes without visible miracle.
Reversal: The turning of expected outcomes so that pride is humbled, humility is honored, and evil plans serve God's opposite purpose.
Irony: The narrative contrast between what Haman intends for himself and Mordecai and what actually occurs under providence.
Pride: Haman's self-exalting assumption that no one is more worthy of royal honor than himself.
True good: The believer's conformity to Christ and final enjoyment of God, not a guarantee of ease or material success.