The God Who Never Sleeps
Hidden Providence in Esther 6
In the book of Esther there is nothing resembling a burning bush or a parting sea, and famously there is no mention of God.
Chapter 6 is the hinge of the whole book. The Jews face threat of certain death, until chapter 6 arrives. Knowing that, what would you expect that chapter to describe? A brave heroine standing before the king pleading for her people? An emboldened Jewish palace worker demanding the reversal of a wicked edict?
Esther 6 opens with a seemingly trivial detail: “On that night the king could not sleep”. But from this restless night flows a chain of events that overturns a royal decree, begins the salvation of the Jewish people, and exposes the pride of a powerful enemy. It’s a story of God’s providence at work.
God’s Providence Governs All Things
The sleepless King Ahasuerus calls for the royal chronicles to be read—perhaps hoping they’ll bore him back to sleep. As chance would have it, the passage read recounts how Mordecai once uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. Ahasuerus realizes Mordecai was never rewarded and decides to honor him. That decision sets the entire story on a new course.
We’re not told directly that God withheld the king’s sleep, but His fingerprints are everywhere. The Westminster Confession of Faith reminds us that God’s providence “does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least.” That includes sleepless nights. (Psalm 127:2 tells us that sleep is a gift from God.)
God’s providence rarely arrives with fanfare. This chapter doesn’t begin with a vision or a voice from heaven. Just an interrupted sleep and a dusty scroll. But through it, God begins to reverse what seemed irreversible. The enemy’s plan falters and God’s plan unfolds.
God Turns Pride to Shame
As the king deliberates how to honor Mordecai, his advisor Haman arrives, ironically intending to request Mordecai’s execution. Before Haman can speak, the king asks him a question: “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” (v.6).
Assuming he is that man, Haman dreams up an elaborate display: royal robes, the king’s horse, a public parade. It is the fantasy of a man consumed with self-glory. But the twist comes fast: “Do so to Mordecai the Jew.”
In just a few words, Haman’s pride is pierced. The man he sought to destroy is now exalted, and he himself must lead the parade. It is humiliating, and it is richly deserved.
Scripture warns us again and again: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). Haman’s downfall is a parable of pride’s end. He believed himself indispensable. He thought no one else worthy. But his self-deception led to disgrace. And (spoiler alert!) the gallows he built for Mordecai will become his own.
Haman’s pride is the pride that lurks in every heart. The belief that we deserve recognition, that others are obstacles to our glory is the spirit of Haman, and it must be repented of. God’s providence should humble the proud.
God’s Purposes Always Prevail
By the end of the chapter, the tide has turned. Haman is reeling. His own wife and advisors speak what may be the most theological statement in the chapter: “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him” (v.13).
They likely didn’t know the full weight of what they were saying. But Scripture makes clear: to be of the “seed of the Jews” was to be part of God’s covenant people, through whom the Messiah would come. Mordecai’s preservation is not just a personal victory—it is part of the great cosmic war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15).
Esther 6 reminds us that God’s purposes cannot be thwarted. However hidden His providence may seem, His plans are unfolding with perfect precision. As Christians, we see in Mordecai a shadow of our truer deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was humiliated in death so that we might be raised to life.
Trust the God Who Keeps Watch
You may find yourself in a season where God feels distant. You don’t see miracles. You don’t feel particularly spiritual. The world seems chaotic, and you wonder if anything is really under control.
Esther 6 speaks directly to you. It invites you to trust the God who does not slumber. He is at work in every sleepless night, every overlooked detail, every buried disappointment. His providence governs all things. His grace humbles the proud. And His purposes will always prevail.
So do not despair. Do not judge God’s faithfulness by your circumstances. Instead, remember this: “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
