Dec 13 Esther 6, Esther 7, Esther 8 Revelation 4 Psalm 142:1-11
Esther 7:9-10
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.
Have you ever heard the phrase “hoist with his own petard”? It’s the phrase that came to me as I was reading this passage. I thought it meant, lifted by your own noose – but actually that’s not it. Hosit does mean lifted, but a petard is a small bomb. So it means lifted (or blown up) by your own bomb.
The phrase first appears in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet – when Hamlet discovers a plot against him and decides to use it against Claudius.
It’s come to mean an ironic reversal.
And that’s what happens here. Haman went to some effort to erect a gallows ready hang Mordecai from. He must have seen it getting built and imagined the day he’d be able to use it.
But it all went wrong for him. The gallows he used to do another harm, became the place where he met his end.
Ironic. Almost poetic.
Many people will come against the children of God, I’m sure you have experienced that. But fear not. God is the one who looks out for us. I’m not suggesting we pray people will be hoist by their own petard, but the very things that could be used against us, God is able to turn around and use for good. Mordecai could have looked at the gallows as a sign of HIs end, but God turned them into a sign of his liberation.
Rev 4:8
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
Ok, so a little explanation here. First – this comes just after the letters to the churches – and John sees the heavenly throne room.
Now, it’s not clear if John was actually taken to the heavenly throne room or this is a vision “In the Spirit” as implied by verse 2.
Either way it’s still trustworthy as this vision is from the Lord. It’s not a made up picture – but part of a whole book full of reliable revelations.
It’s also a little unsure if what we are seeing here is end times – or a present reality in the throne room. It’s positioning in the book makes that more difficult to see as it brides the two parts of that book.
It’s most likely a present reality in heaven – even now – a permanent scene with no time reference needed.
What we get to see here is a glimpse into the heavenly adoration that earthly worship is just an echo of.
It’s interesting, but this three word repetition to the best of my knowledge only appears twice in scripture. Both times it is the word Holy used to describe God.
The word Holy, means set apart – to be different. When we are called to be Holy we are called to be set apart from the world. To be different to it.
But God’s Holiness is so much more set apart.
You see he’s not just holy. He’s Holy, holy, holy.
He’s more set apart – more different – more holy than you can imagine.
How are they saying this, is it a formal, repetition – “Holy, Holy, Holy”… is someone making them do this?
No of course not.
We know this cannot be vain repetition – because Jesus told us not to do that. We know this cannot be just formal lip service, because God doesn’t want that. So what’s happening here?
This is what I believe is happening – in the Presence of God, at the very throne room in front of Him, they can see Him in all His glory.
Can you picture that? Almighty God right in front of you? It’s ok if you can’t because it’s beyond our understanding.
And all they can do is adore Him. Worship Him.
Because every time they look at Him they are overwhelmed by how magnificent He is.
All they can do is cry out, Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God almighty – who was and is and is to come!
And then, just when they think they are done – they look at Him again and they see something new – something that takes their breathe away again, and all they can do is fall down again and cry, Holy, Holy Holy, Lord God almighty! Who was and is and is to come!
And then when this is over – they look at the Lord and there is another revelation of His glory… you get the idea.
Day and night – never stopping. Not out of duty – not out of ritual, but because of a continued revelation of how awesome God is.
It never gets old – it never gets to be a chore. There is a continued and sustained sense of awe.
That’s true worship – worship in spirit and in truth.
Worship isn’t a chore or a ritual – it’s a response in awe to Him.
Ravi Zacharias describes true worship as a perpetual novelty – it never gets old.
But here’s the problem – we can make it a chore.
When we stop looking – we stop seeing how great He is.
