It's easy to assume that someone is being blessed when you see them promoted. However, reading the book of Esther this morning my eyes opened to see that although promotion comes from the Lord, His reason for promoting you is another story.
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another. (Psalm 75:6-7, kjv)
The book of Esther is a book filled with promotion and demotion. The book begins with the demotion of one Queen Vashti, which if we look closely, we can see the hand of the Lord in this. Without this demotion, there would have been no room for the promotion of Esther, the Jew. It is the Lord who promotes and demotes and, in this instance, He desired one of His own people in a position which would enable Him to exercise judgement on one of their enemies.
In chapter 3, we see the promotion of one named Haman. Esther chapter 3, verses 6 and 10 tell us this about Haman:
He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes. (v6)
The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. (v10)
Haman is described as the enemy of the Jews. In his promotion, Haman sought to use his position to exercise evil; little did he know that the Lord had already planned to turn it around according to His will.
Had Haman not been promoted, he would never had had the opportunity to put in place a plan of mass massacre. Yes, he may have done so at a smaller level, but in allowing Haman to be promoted, the Lord actually made it possible for all Jews everywhere to receive vindication as opposed to a small few. The greater the evil the greater the mercy of God.
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20, kjv)
By Esther chapter 7, we see that the very position of promotion that Haman desired to use for evil had backfired on him.
So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided. (Esther 7:10, NLT)
One could say that the only reason the Lord allowed Haman to be promoted in the first place was so that he could be judged of his evil. If Haman had not been promoted, he would not have been able to be judged in this manner. Haman's promotion was in fact a set up from the Lord.
So, the next time you see those who deliberately work evil promoted, don't assume they are being blessed. It could in fact be the Lord's means of exercising judgement.
After the death of Haman, the Lord promoted Mordecai (the very Jew Haman sought to harm) to a position greater than that of Haman's. Mordecai's promotion was in fact a promotion for good, the Lord using Him to exercise good upon His people and throughout the land.
The king took off his signet ring—which he had taken back from Haman—and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s property. (Esther 8:2, nlt)
For Mordecai had been promoted in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as he became more and more powerful. (Esther 9:4, NLT)
Mordecai the Jew became the prime minister, with authority next to that of King Xerxes himself. He was very great among the Jews, who held him in high esteem, because he continued to work for the good of his people and to speak up for the welfare of all their descendants. (Esther 10:3, NLT)
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