Divine Appointments: Poetic Justice

Transcript

JROT 34
Divine Appointments: “Poetic Justice”
11/03/2024
Esther 7:1-10
Jesse Randolph

Good evening and welcome back. Tonight we are resuming our study of the book of Esther and specifically, we’ll be in Esther chapter 7. We ended last week on sort of a cliffhanger as Haman, wicked Haman, has been hauled off by these members of King Xerxes’ royal entourage. These eunuchs, and we see it in Esther 6:14, right before our chapter for tonight, that these eunuchs “hastily brought Haman to the feast which Esther had prepared.” That’s what we ended with last time. This was a feast, you’ll recall, that Haman was pretty excited about attending just a day earlier. Remember he had been boasting to his family and to his friends in his household about receiving the invitation to this feast. But now, where we left off last week, is this feast was a matter of sheer terror and dread. That’s where we left off last time. That was the cliff hanger a week ago.

Now let’s get right into tonight’s message. And we are going to have seven headings tonight. Our first heading for you note takers is this, “The King’s Regard.” Which will take us through Esther 7:1-2. “Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’” So the account begins innocently enough with yet another banquet. If you’re counting that is now 5 banquets mentioned in the book of Esther. That’s to be expected. This is a book about royal court life in ancient Persia. There were two banquets given in the beginning of the book by King Xerxes you might recall back in Esther chapter 1. That’s where he’s offering these banquets for his various military commanders and mighty leaders. Then there’s the banquet that was given by Queen Vashti before she was eventually deposed. And then there were two banquets given by Queen Esther. And that brings us to our fifth one here. We had the first banquet back in chapter 5. This is her second banquet, banquet #5 overall.

And in our text for tonight, the setting is that fifth banquet. And the wine is flowing. Look at verse 1, “Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen.” So now the narrator of this book is doing something intentional here. He’s intentionally highlighting this built-in tension and suspense in the narrative. This isn’t just about wine-drinking. This isn’t just about trying to get us to figure out or guess at what kind of wine they were drinking or who was drinking more or who was drinking who under the table. Rather, the whole point of the narrator’s words and writings here is to establish and build up tension and suspense in the narrative. On the one hand, there’s this sense that the sword is about to fall on Haman’s head at any moment. But there’s another sense in which one is left to wonder, is Haman going to get away with it again? Is he going to get out of this one again?

Or, trying to get in Haman’s head for just a moment, did he believe that he might get away with this. It’s not unreasonable to think that Haman -- even though he had just been dragged away by the king’s eunuchs at the end of chapter 6, and though his wife and his friends had just given him this dire prediction of his fate -- he might have thought that his luck was going to change. And he might have thought that his fate was going to be reversed. You have to remember this is a man with a massive ego. And irrepressible pride. And so, as the wine flowed, and as his eyes darted nervously over the rim of his goblet, perhaps his pride got to him one last time.

Remember, this man was driven, not only by a hatred of Mordecai. But underneath that hatred of Mordecai was this desperate need to be publicly recognized and affirmed. And this desperate need to present as though he had it all together. And this desperate need to be in control. His wealth, his prestige, his titles, his sons, they weren’t enough for him. He wanted recognition and respect and that desire was anchored in his prideful, fatal flaw, which is that he really believed that the entire kingdom and world revolved around him. That’s why he became enraged when Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him. That’s why he was elated when he was invited to not just one banquet with King Xerxes and Queen Esther, but two. That’s why he boasted to his wife and his friends about all he had and all he’d been given. That’s why he was crushed and humiliated when the king bestowed on Mordecai, as we saw last time, and not himself the honor he thought should have been placed on him.

And that’s why I think there’s still this possibility as he’s now being hauled off to this second banquet with the king and the queen that Haman thought just perhaps this might turn back in my favor. And perhaps this might turn out positively for me. There is this possibility as he heads to this feast. As he’s consoling himself, he’s remembering his own greatness. He’s talking a big game inside of his head. He’s convincing himself that this was all eventually to turn out in his favor. But now the day of reckoning arrives as he, along with King Xerxes, arrives at this banquet which Esther had prepared. And just as the three of them had done just one day before in the first banquet, they start to drink wine.

Now how much idle chit chat they engaged in? Whether they talked about the weather for a few moments. We don’t know. But the first instance of dialogue is recorded in verse 2. It says, “And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’” So the whole setting here is the resumption of the narrative back in Esther chapter 5. And it’s sort of unfair for me to ask you if you remember Esther chapter 5 because we studied that chapter nearly six months ago. So, to refresh our memories let’s turn back to Esther 5. The setting here is that the empire-wide decree for the slaughter of the Jewish people has gone out. And Mordecai, Esther’s relative, has notified her of this decree and Mordecai urges Esther to show boldness and courage in saying something to the king. To speak up for their people. And there’s that famous line in Esther 4:14, where Mordecai asks her: “who knows whether you have not reached royalty for such a time as this?”

That then leads us to the first banquet in Esther chapter 5. And it’s described this way, starting in verse 1, “Now it happened on the third day, that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s house in front of the king’s rooms, and the king was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to his house. Now it happened that when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she advanced in favor in his eyes; and the king extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther came near and reached out and touched the top of the scepter. Then the king said to her, ‘What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.’ And Esther said, ‘If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the feast that I have prepared for him.’ Then the king said, ‘Bring Haman quickly that we may do the word of Esther.’ So the king and Haman came to the feast which Esther had prepared. Then, as they drank their wine at the feast, the king said to Esther, ‘What is your petition? For it shall be given to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’”

So two times now in this private setting, one with Esther only, and one with Haman present, the king has made the same offer. He said to her, “What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” Now, that’s not to be taken as a literal offer. Rather, that’s a well-understood expression in this time of the king’s generosity. He is saying to her here, “Tell me what you want, and I’ll be generous in answering your request.” And in that first banquet she answered him. Look at Esther 5:7-8. It says, “So Esther answered and said, ‘My petition and my request is, if I have found favor in the eyes of the king, and if it seems good to the king to give heed to my petition and to do my request, may the king and Haman come to the feast which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do according to the word of the king.’”

So though she could have, she didn’t “out” Haman right at that point. Rather, she requested a second banquet. And in doing so, she only heightens the drama by in effect saying, “Let’s do this again tomorrow. All three of us. And then I’ll tell you what I want then.” Now of course Haman being who he was, took this the wrong way. And what he assumed was that this was all about him and his praise and glory, which is why he left that first banquet walking on air, boasting to those in his household. But Esther we know was actually setting a trap for him.

And then bringing it back to our context in Esther chapter 7, the night of this second banquet, this trap was about to close. A whole night has now gone by between Esther chapter 5 and Esther chapter 7. Between banquet #1 and banquet #2. And so much has taken place like the building of the gallows by Haman. King Xerxes’ dream. Haman’s middle-of-the-night interaction with Xerxes in the palace at 2,3, or 4:00 in the morning (we don’t know). Xerxes’ realization as he speaks to people in the court that he had failed to honor someone in his kingdom years ago. Haman assuming that Xerxes meant him. Xerxes clarifying that he meant Mordecai. Xerxes then commanding Haman to publicly honor Mordecai. Haman heading home in shame only to be told by his wife and his closest advisers and friends, that he was essentially toast, he was done.

And that, as we worked our way through chapter 6 last week, is the perspective we’ve been given. But now as we shift back to King Xerxes and his perspective in chapter 7, we see that from his vantage point, he has been waiting this entire time, for one full day, to get Esther’s answer to his question. Twice he had asked her in that first banquet, the night before, “what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done for you.” And he is now anticipating her answer at this second banquet. So, here we go. Second banquet. The wine is served. King Xerxes again broaches this topic in 7:2, “The king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, ‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’” Note one more detail here as he addresses her and asks her this question. He refers to her suddenly as “Queen Esther.” A title of honor or regard, which is an indication that though Xerxes was known for being quite fickle and flighty, he was still very favorably disposed toward her, meaning, she should anticipate being given whatever it was she was going to ask him for.

Now, as a king in the ancient world, as royalty in the ancient world, Xerxes naturally would have assumed she was going to ask for something material. Financial. That’s typically how kings like Xerxes thought. They thought in material terms. Land and property and riches and jewelry and things like that. But obviously Esther had something far bigger in mind. She was there, on one level, not only to put an end to wicked Haman’s reign of terror, she was also there having been put there by God, the God whose name is not mentioned in this book by the way, to spare the lives of her people, the Jews, who were under this death warrant which Haman had initiated and which King Xerxes had unwittingly signed off on.

So the suspense here already at verse 2 is at its climax. The tension already as you read through this is at fever pitch. If the book of Esther were a rollercoaster, this would be that part of the rollercoaster where the pulley system is pulling you to the top and hear that click sound, and you end up at the top and then click! You start rolling down. This is that last click moment, as we gain momentum to the conclusion of the account of the story.

So that’s verse 1 and 2. That’s “The King’s Regard.” That brings us to our next heading, which is “The Queen’s Request.” That’s in verses 3 and 4, which is that moment where we hear that click and start going down the tracks. Verse 3, “Then Queen Esther answered and said, ‘If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition, and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king.’”

I just have to say thank you for allowing me the privilege to study for you all week because this one was really fun. This was one of those weeks where I was getting behind the desk and looking at this and untangling the knots and realizing what a privilege it is to do what I get to do. So I just wanted to say thank you because this whole section is brilliant. It’s an amazing piece of poetry, of writing. This whole section is brilliant. Not only from Esther’s standpoint, as she shrewdly sets this whole thing up, but it’s brilliant from a literary standpoint, as the narrator lays this whole thing out.

First of all note it’s Queen Esther that’s answering here. Just as Xerxes had addressed her as royalty in verse 2, the narrator picks that up for us also calling her Queen Esther. And then look at how she begins. She says, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king.” That is both clever and subtle. Because in earlier episodes in this account, where the king asked her that very same question, “What is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you,” she replied a little bit differently. Over in Esther 5:4, she answered that same question this way. She said “If it seems good to the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the feast that I have prepared for him.” But here in Esther 7:3, she’s not speaking in the third person any more. Rather, she’s speaking in this second person. It’s no longer, “If it seems good to the king.” It’s “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king.” And that’s significant because with this slight change of focus and emphasis as she prepares to ask the king for what she wants, she is delicately emphasizing to him and reminding him of her close relationship to him. This is her verbal equivalent as queen of batting her eyes at him. I don’t know how to bat eyes but she’s batting her eyes with her words here. That’s what is happening. And she’s using her words here to pull herself closer into him like, “Surely you won’t turn me down, right, dear? Right, your majesty?” “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king,” verse 3, “and if it seems good to the king.”

And then look at what she says next. After drawing herself closer to the king with her words, she now uses her words to draw herself closer to her people, the Jews. Still in verse 3, she says, “let my life be given to me as my petition, and my people as my request.” Now, note that her language here is tracking directly with the king’s question to her in verse 2. In verse 2 he asks her, “‘What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.’” So note he had asked her both for her petition and for her request. Now, he was assuming by the way he asked her this, that it would be just one desire that she would express. He wasn’t really asking her for two things. He was asking her for one. But he uses two words there. So he’s not thinking of the petition and the request as two distinct items but instead to one desire.

Well, Esther takes advantage of that. She hears him use use two words, petition and request, and she capitalized on it. She was one smart cookie. And what she does here is she makes two requests. And she skillfully weaves and joins them together. As her petition, we see it there in verse 3, she asks that her life by spared. “Let my life be given to me as my petition.” And then as her request, she asks that her people be spared. She says, “and my people as my request.” And the brilliance of this is that through her words she is tying together and putting before the king that not only her future, and her fate, and her destiny, but that of her people, the Jews, are to her one in the same. And in this way she begins to bring her otherwise-ignorant husband and king, Xerxes, in on the full story of what wicked Haman had done and her concern for her people.

And that brings us to verse 4 where Esther continues, she says, “for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish.” Now, those words at this point in the narrative would have hit King Xerxes in a very specific way. He wasn’t privy to all that we’ve been studying and learning about in our study of Esther so far. And we have actually seen many times in this study, that he was for the most part totally asleep at the switch. So when his wife, Queen Esther, reports to him here that “we have been sold, I and my people,” his first thought here likely would have been something like treason. He must have been thinking, “Who has committed this act of treason against me?” He was the king. And the subjects of the Persian kingdom were his. They were under his authority. So if there was someone in his kingdom who had the right, the authority, and the privilege to sell people off, it was him, and only him. So to suggest as Esther was doing here that someone else had stepped in and begun selling away people in the kingdom, that was to suggest that someone was seeking to wrest power away from King Xerxes. So he would have received this as there was a traitor in the kingdom. There is a traitor in his midst. And think about this: that idea of treason, would have been a sore subject for Xerxes at this time. It would have been a sensitive subject. Because recall just a few hours before he had been reminded in the night watch that there had been an attempt on his life years before. The one that Mordecai rooted out.

So here is Esther now, presenting to him another plot. Another instance of treason within the kingdom. But this plot has a twist. Because this plot, she makes clear, is not to topple him, but this plot is one through which she, the king’s wife, was going herself going to be killed, destroyed, and caused to perish it says here in verse 4. But not just her, she says also my people. The whole sentence says, “we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish.”

Esther again is being so clever here. Because when she says what she says here in verse 4 she is almost quoting verbatim the very words of the edict that Xerxes himself signed into law, by which she and her people were now under a death sentence. In fact, go back with me to Esther 3. This is fascinating stuff. You can see what I get excited about all week. Esther 3 starting in verse 8, “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not do the king’s laws, so it is not worth it for the king to let them remain. If it seems good to the king, let it be written down that they should perish, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who do this work, to bring into the king’s treasuries. Then the king removed his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the adversary of the Jews. And the king said to Haman, ‘The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them according to what is good in your eyes.’ Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps, to the governors who were over each province, and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its tongue, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.”

And now get this, verse 13, “And letters were sent by the hand of couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to cause all the Jews to perish, both young and old, little ones and women, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to plunder their spoil.” Did you see the words there? Destroy. Kill. Perish. Those are the exact words that Esther uses now in chapter 7, verse 4. She’s being clever here. She’s laying a trap for Haman. She’s taking the very words of the edict which Haman had caused Xerxes to sign, which was targeting her and her people, the Jews, to now get the king, her husband, to see Haman as being a traitor against the throne. But apparently and no surprise here given what we’ve already seen in this narrative so far, the king is a little dense. The king isn’t picking up on this.

Finally, still in verse 4, Esther ends with a brilliant piece of rhetoric. More brilliant writing here which we can easily read right over when we are not fully grasping what is happening here. She says, I’m in verse 4 still, “Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king.” Esther here is being quite shrewd. On the surface of what she’s saying here, she’s just being polite. She’s being honorable and reverent, by saying “if we had only been sold as slaves I would have remained silent.” She’s making clear on the one hand that she wasn’t looking to cause a disturbance within the kingdom. She’s not looking to be an annoyance to the king. This is her way of subtly communicating to the king that she’s at least in some respect concerned with the king’s peace of mind, as much as she was her own life. And that approach would have been appreciated by a busy king like Xerxes who had so much on his mind especially now.

But there is also something even deeper happening here through her carefully-chosen words. What she’s doing here is making yet another connection back to Haman’s edict to destroy the Jews, back in Esther 3, which is going to become evident as the events continue to play out. Let’s look at Esther 3 again, if you would, with me. Let me show you what I mean. Look at verse 8 and 9 specifically, “Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not do the king’s laws, so it is not worth it for the king to let them remain. If it seems good to the king, let it be written down that they should perish, and I will pay 10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who do this work, to bring into the king’s treasuries.’”

Now the key word there is the word “perish.” Where it says “that they should perish.” The Hebrew word is “avad.” And the word means destroy. He’s saying, “They should perish, they should be destroyed.” That word “avad” in Hebrew sounds a lot like the word that Esther uses over in Esther 7:4 for slave. That word is “eved.” So, “avad” means perish or destroy. “Eved” means slave. Why is that significant? It’s significant because it leaves open the possibility of Xerxes being able to later save face for having signed the Jews’ death warrant while at the same time Esther being able to close the trap on Haman. Here’s what I mean by that. It’s possible that when Xerxes received that edict on his desk from Haman, to execute all of the Jews in the kingdom, that Haman used a word, avad, which sounds like the Hebrew word for slave, eved. And Haman may have done so intentionally, knowing that Xerxes would be less likely to sign off an edict to kill all the Jews, and maybe more likely to sign off on an edict that would enslave all the Jews. So maybe, just maybe, (I’m not dying on this hill either) King Xerxes, as careless and fast-acting as he was, mistakenly thought that when he signed the fateful edict that he was merely authorizing the enslavement of the Jews, not their extermination.

Either way, it wasn’t a noble request from Haman. And either way, Xerxes is at fault for being so careless when he signs the edict. But what this does is it offers this possible explanation for why Xerxes would now be expressing such a lack of awareness about this plot to kill this entire people group. It would, in some sense, let Xerxes off the hook and at least allow him to save face. And not only that, when it came time for the king to learn about the wickedness that Haman had done, the king would not only be able to go after Haman for seeking to kill his wife, the Queen, he could go after Haman for tricking him in the first place. It’s a theory. It’s a real possibility that Haman was being intentionally clever with his words back in Esther 3, confusing the king to try to get him to do what he wanted.

And now, in Esther 7, back to our text. It’s Esther who is being clever and careful with her words to get what she wanted, namely, the rescue of her people and then justice meted out on Haman. Again, her entire response is brilliant. It’s clear that she understands the delicate and precarious nature of her situation. It’s clear that she understands that she needs to fully expose Haman for his guilt and responsibility. At the same time she’s not seeking to bring any charges against her husband the king. And she’s threading that needle with great skill and care.

But here’s the thing, and we’ve left this out so far, and just kind of skipped by it. But apparently up to this point Xerxes had no idea what people group his wife was from. It’s really hard to believe. Can you imagine to being married to someone and being like a couple years into it and be like you’re Guatemalan? No way. I had no idea. You’re German, you’re Swedish, you’re Swiss? Really? I never knew. I just never thought to ask. That’s what Xerxes did. It was like a whole comedy of errors for him and this is just the latest one. He had no idea, up to this point, that his wife, the Queen, was a Jew. Well, not any longer. Since here in verse 4, she identifies herself with her people, “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed.” Now note the difficulty of Esther’s situation. She, as a Jew, is living under Xerxes’ decree there in the kingdom. Meaning, she’s living under a death sentence. Yet Xerxes doesn’t yet know that. So, in seeking to preserve her life and save it, and also, of course, the lives of her countrymen, the Jews, Esther is in this quandary where she has to reveal her identity and in doing so put her own life at risk. It’s paradoxical.

Not only that, but in addressing Xerxes here, she’s speaking in the passive mood as she refers to his edict here in verse 4, through which she and her people had been condemned. She says, “we have been sold.” She doesn’t say, “you have sold us.” She’s being very careful and tactful with her language since again her focus here is not going after Xerxes. She wants to entrap Haman.
And speaking of her careful language again, she doesn’t just come out and say, “Oh hey, Xerxes. by the way, I am a Jew.” But she still does identify with them here. She does so though not by name, but rather by their common fate. And by this point in the narrative, the gears, you have to believe, have started to grind for Xerxes. He’s starting to put two and two together. It could not have been that he regularly signed edicts and decrees to either enslave or put to death entire people groups. This could not be a regular occurrence with him, as callous as he was in other ways. No, with Esther’s reply here in verses 3 and 4, he must have at least have begun to realize and understand that Esther was a Jew and that he had unwittingly consented to her murder, and worse yet, he had done so for money which we see here in verse 4. “for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish.” We have been sold. That’s a monetary transaction.


Now, if the gears were starting to turn for Xerxes, guess who was hearing Esther loud and clear in this very moment? And guess who realized, at this very moment that he’d been found out and that he was in trouble and that his days were numbered? Haman. Remember, we’ve kind of gotten away from this in the last half hour, but there were three people at this banquet. Not just two. So far the whole dialogue has been between Xerxes and Esther. But sitting right there, listening in on this entire exchange is Haman. There’s no indication from the text that he knew before this that Esther was a Jew. But right now to his great shock, he learned that she was. And now he realizes that he has been found out. Esther, in giving her answer to the king about what it was she was requesting, had quoted from Haman’s own edict. To kill, destroy, and cause the Jews to perish. Meaning, he’s hearing very familiar language that he wrote coming from her mouth and he’s learning right here and now, that Esther knows about that edict. He knows he’s the author of that edict. And here she was being the one who had invited him to this private banquet with the king. It finally clicks for him that he is in trouble. His heart must have sunk. The lump must have been huge in his throat. He must have been sickened to know what was actually starting to happen here.

But before we get to Haman, the focus goes back to Xerxes in verse 5. And here is our third heading by the way, this is “The King’s Response” in verse 5. “Then King Ahasuerus,” that’s Xerxes, “he said to Esther the Queen, ‘Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?’” Xerxes words there, which in Hebrew are just six words and each of those six words have a single syllable, when they are read aloud in Hebrew they are really sharp sounding. As one commentator has noted, it sounds like machine-gun fire when he says what he says here. But at this point Xerxes isn’t furious. He’s not angry at least outwardly that we can see here. That comes later in verse 7. But there’s no doubt that he was unsettled and agitated because after all he has just heard someone is after his wife and her people. And Xerxes, being a king, was focused on that. But he’s also focused on how this whole episode might undermine him and his throne and reign. He’s thinking as a king. He’s startled over the fact that something like this could be happening in his kingdom. So he asks for more information. Quite naturally he wanted to know where this threat was coming from. And he wanted to get this information so that he could eliminate the threat.

But as Queen Esther’s husband, he was also just processing this information he’s received. That someone is after his wife. And who could that possibly be? He’s on this information-gathering campaign. Who would dare do such a thing to Esther and her people, whoever those people were? His questions then are directed at his wife, Esther. That’s what we see in the first half of verse 5. It says, “Then King Ahasuerus said, he said to Esther the Queen.” But again all the while sitting right there at the table, reclining on a couch, no doubt wishing he could just run from the room or disappear, is Haman. And Haman realized that as Esther prepared to answer Xerxes’ question, that he was about to be exposed. And not only exposed but executed. His days were numbered.

That takes us to our next heading here in verse 6 where we see “The Queen’s Reply.” Verse 6 says, “So Esther said, ‘An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!’” With perfect timing Esther here drops the hammer. But not before stalling ever so slightly. And dramatically piling up these words of condemnation. Referring to Haman as an adversary, as an enemy, and calling him evil. So she doesn’t just blurt out Haman’s name. She raises this moment of tension even further by pointing the finger verbally and describing the one she’s about to name as a wicked foe and an enemy to the king himself. And then she calls out the name, Haman, who she calls, “An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman.” And he was. We have seen it now in almost 7 full chapters of this book. But he was evil in a general sense. He was an enemy in a general sense. He was Esther’s enemy. He had conspired against her life. He was Xerxes’ enemy as he manipulated and even deceived the king. And he was plainly an adversary and an enemy of the Jews. In Esther 8:1 he is called, “the adversary of the Jews” Haman is. Esther 9:10 he’s called, “the Jews’ adversary.” And in Esther 9:24 he is called, “the adversary of all the Jews.” An enemy and adversary that he was. Villain that he was.

Haman is in the room. He’s present for all of this. He’s present not only for the drinking of wine at the banquet in verses 1 and 2, but he’s present for the king’s invitation, the queen’s request, the king’s response, and he’s present there for the queen’s reply, in the first part of verse 6. And so now we are given a glimpse into what he’s finally thinking about all of this at the end of verse 6. Where it says, “Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.” As he should have been. Having been found out. All of the walls that he had carefully constructed were now crashing down on him. He had been completely outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Esther, who was not only a queen but a Jewish queen. And knowing how impulsive Xerxes could be and knowing how angry Xerxes could be, Haman knew his time was up. That his fate was sealed. And, of course, verse 6, he’s terrified.

So we turn to verse 7. We see that he has good reason to be terrified. Here’s our next heading, “The King’s Rage.” Verse 7, “And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine and went into the garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king.” Those are ominous words, that the king had wrath. When we remember back in the beginning of this account… go back to Esther 1, the first account of Xerxes wrath is recorded in chapter 1. We studied this many months ago. Look at Esther 1:10 “On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said for Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who attended to the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful in appearance. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king which was delivered by the hand of the eunuchs. Then the king became exceedingly furious, and his wrath burned within him.” And on account of Xerxes wrath, you’ll recall, Queen Vashti was sent away. No longer allowed to come into the presence of the king and never to be heard from again.

And now back to Esther 7, the king is experiencing wrath again. But now he’s experiencing wrath in the presence of his second wife. His new queen. But his wrath isn’t directed against his wife. It’s instead directed at the man who she has just “outed,” Haman. And so he takes a walk. He’s mad. He takes a walk. “And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine and went into the garden of his palace.” We’re not told precisely what Xerxes was thinking as he went on this walk. But one can only imagine the swirling, confusing thoughts that were going through his mind. Perhaps he was thinking something like, “I need to control my anger.” Though he’s not a child of God. Though he’s not indwelt by the Spirit. But he’d at least seen the folly of his angry ways and where they led him with Vashti. So maybe he’s just trying to “cool off”.

Maybe he’s out there trying to plan his next steps with respect to Haman. Maybe he’s wrestling with the fact that his own ego and pride have been bruised. How could I have so badly misjudged Haman’s character? How could I have given him so much influence? How could I have promoted him and advanced him through the kingdom? How could I have made such a fool of myself? How could I have approved of that law, that edict without carefully considering it? How could I have endangered the life of my wife, my Queen and not just my Queen, but her people?

Again the text doesn’t confirm that he was thinking those exact thoughts. But it’s safe to say that if he’s walking in his garden, with a little bit of wine in him, his head was swimming. And the text is clear on one thing. He was angry. It says, “And the king arose in his wrath.” And the testimony of Scripture elsewhere is clear that a king in his wrath is nothing to trifle with. Proverbs 16:14, “The wrath of a king is like messengers of death.” Proverbs 19:12. “The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion.” No wonder Haman was afraid! He knew that Xerxes was his judge and his jury. And, ultimately would be his executioner.

And so in desperation, Haman seeks a stay from the king’s wife, Esther. Look at the end of verse 7, “But Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king.” He couldn’t chase after the king into his garden. He was angry and upset. He couldn’t run away. Certainly he would be arrested if he tried to do that. So his last option, his only option though remote, was to throw himself on the mercy of the Queen. Perhaps thinking he could arouse pity in her and get her to intercede for him before King Xerxes. Now that was an ironic approach since Haman, who has been seeking to take Esther’s life through his wicked decree concerning the Jews, is now turning to Esther to spare his life. It’s ironic because he had been furious that a Jewish man, Mordecai, wouldn’t bow down to him, but now he’s laying prostrate before a Jewish woman, begging for his life.

And not only that, Esther couldn’t save him if she had wanted to. In fact, she couldn’t save herself because she was a condemned woman under Haman’s decree. So there are all sorts of ironies built into this last ditch plea by Haman. But it’s not only ironic, it’s pathetic. Haman, this whole book, has been this prideful, arrogant bully. And now he’s groveling before Esther, doing so as a total coward and totally out of character with who he has been throughout this book. When he knew he had the king’s backing, he would strut about, demand respect, give orders, and have a bunch of false courage. But now that the anger of the king is against him, Haman’s true character is revealed. He’s not strong or mighty. He’s weak and puny.

So there he is, staying behind in this area where they had been feasting. Begging Queen Esther to somehow spare his life, as though she could. And it all goes horribly wrong. Look at verse 8. This is where we see “The King’s Return.” Verse 8, “Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. So the king said, ‘Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?’ As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.” So the first part of this passage is pretty self-explanatory and clear. After spending some time in the garden of his palace, meaning outdoors, Xerxes comes back inside into this dining area, the place where they were drinking wine. What we’re not told is how long Xerxes had been outside, or how clear his head was now, or if his wrath had subsided. We’re not told if he, while he was outdoors, resolved to give Haman a second chance and let bygones be bygones. All we’re told, rather, is that he came back. He returned. And what he saw is recorded in the next part of verse 8, “Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was.”

What’s that all about? Well, recall this is a banquet. And we know that in this part of the world at this time, people ate and drank in these settings where they were reclining on couches while eating. So that’s the scene. There’s a reclining on a couch in this banquet hall in this room. And in what way was Haman “falling on the couch”? Well, I don’t take that to mean he as losing his balance. That he’s had too much wine and he’s inadvertently toppled over and fallen on top of Esther. More likely and consistent with what we saw just now back in verse 7, is that with Haman “staying back to seek for his life from Queen Esther,” what he is doing right here when it says he had fallen on the couch where she was, is he’s laying prostrate before her. Near her. It’s possible that he is going so far as to clutch her ankles and to kiss her feet. Throwing himself on her in a sense as he seeks mercy from her and clemency from her. And at just that moment, another one of those “it just so happened moments” that we see all throughout the book of Esther, King Xerxes walks in right as he’s falling in the vicinity of Esther.

And look at his exasperated question which isn’t really a question, but an accusation. He says, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” In other words, even if what Haman was doing in Esther’s presence was just pleading for mercy, that’s not what it looked like to her husband. He didn’t take it that way. By the way, just by being there with her, Haman was in violation of the law. The Persian law at the time said that no man was allowed to be within seven paces of any member of the king’s harem. And Persian law also said that touching the king’s wife was punishable by death. So right away he has struck out. Not only that though, it’s clear that Xerxes saw this as an instant where his wife was being unlawfully touched by another man. Namely by being assaulted. The word is “assault” there. “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” And that word “assault” likely refers to some kind of sexual assault in terms of what he thought he saw. The word has a very aggressive undertone, connotation, to it.
It means to subjugate by force and it’s often used to reference sexual assault or rape. Now what it is, Xerxes actually saw, the angle at which he saw it, why he believed that he saw some form of assault, maybe even a sexual assault, we don’t know. But the tone of his question there in verse 8 is clear outrage. He’s outraged.

So note what we’ve seen already in just these two verses, verses 7 and 8. We have seen Xerxes bolt out of the room in anger. We have seen Haman, fearful and desperate, staying in that room to beg Esther for mercy. We see Xerxes returning from his walk in the garden where he’s cooling off outside. He returns just in time to see Haman falling on his wife’s couch. Which he perceives to be some sort of assault. At that point Xerxes has had enough. And his court officials, likely his eunuchs, know what to do next. Look at the end of verse 8, “As the word went out of the king’s mouth,” meaning as he asked that question, “they covered Haman’s face.” So according to Persian custom, a condemned man was no longer worthy to be looked upon or to look upon another. So Haman’s face was covered at once indicating that he was condemned to die. And he was condemned to die in a very specific way.

Let’s look at verses 9-10. Here’s our final point, “The Gallows’ Revenge.” Esther 7:9-10, it says, “Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, ‘Behold indeed, the gallows -- which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king -- are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!’” So Harbonah, one of the king’s eunuchs. He’s mentioned back in Esther 1:10. He knew of Haman’s plot to kill Mordecai. Apparently Haman had let it be known around the palace. Knowing Haman, he was likely boasting about it that he planned to kill Mordecai. The same Mordecai, by the way, who it says in verse 9, “who spoke good on behalf of the king.” And Haman boasted that he planned to do so by hanging him, Mordecai, on the gallows.

Now though, Haman’s boasting had gotten the best of him, as his words were about to come back to bite him. Look at the last few words of verse 9, “And the king said, ‘Hang him on it.’” What a difference a day makes. A day earlier Haman’s leading Mordecai through the streets of Susa. Obviously against his will. He’s seething in that moment. But he’s leading Mordecai through these very streets as Mordecai receives the royal treatment that Haman so desperately desired. But now, a day later Haman is being led through those same streets, on a death march, with his head covered and the gallows at the end of the road.

And then, the conclusion, in verse 10, “So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath subsided.” So Haman wanted to kill Mordecai. But the king ordered that Haman be killed. And when Haman was hanged, when he breathed his last and died, end of verse 10, “the king’s wrath subsided.” His wrath had welled up and bubbled over earlier in this account. And now it had receded. Now it was pacified.

Quite the dramatic account, isn’t it? Maybe not the typical bedtime story you tell your kids, but it’s here. And the outcome here with Haman’s lifeless body now hanging from the gallows, is a living illustration of Proverbs 11:8. “The righteous is rescued from distress, but the wicked takes his place.” It’s also a living illustration this story in Esther 7 of Psalm 7:14-16, which says “he travails with wickedness,” speaking of the unrighteous one, “and he conceives mischief and gives birth to falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, and violence will descend upon his own skull.”

Mordecai and his people, the Jews, who were initially destined for death, would now be rescued. While the wicked one, Haman, was put to death. The tables had officially been turned and poetic justice had officially been dispensed.

And not only was justice served on this individual level, between Mordecai and Haman, for instance, we can’t lose sight of a theme here which is God’s faithfulness, not just to Mordecai and Esther individually, but to Israel. That’s on full display in this account and as it is throughout the book of Esther. Going all the way back to the original promises to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 where God said, “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” All the way through Israel’s history God has taken that promise seriously. And he’s brought judgment on kings and rulers who opposed His chosen people. This includes Pharaoh in Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Here, Haman in Persia. It doesn’t mean that God approves of everything Israel has ever done or will do. But make no mistake that Israel is the apple of His eye and those who oppose Israel will not succeed ultimately.

Well, though Haman was dealt with and taken out here and now officially off the scene, from the perspective of Esther and Mordecai and really all of the Jews of the Persian Empire, the problems that Haman had caused, which were deep rooted, were not completely solved. Because the king’s decree, which Haman had played such a central role in, was still in effect. So the story is not quite over. This evil edict that’s threatening the mass murder of Jews in the Persian Empire, is still out there. It’s like a ticking time bomb and it needed to be dealt with. So how would the two surviving members of this dinner party, Xerxes and Esther, deal with the problem? Cliff hanger again. That will be the subject of study next week when we get to Esther chapter 8. That’s it for today. Let’s pray.

Lord, thank You again for this study time in Your Word. Thank You for the book of Esther. Thank You for its beauty. There’s so many layers and textures and intricacies to this book and it’s such a joy to study it, to work through it, to deliver it, and to unfurl it so that Your people, this church, can understand the whole counsel of God. So God, I thank You that though You are not named in the book of Esther, You are so clearly present in the book of Esther as You sovereignly govern all the events and circumstances of what happened there, just as you sovereignly govern and direct all of the events in our life today. And God, I do pray that that will be a comfort for us as we go into this week. Every week we rest in Your sovereignty Lord, but I do know that for some there is anxiety and worry, related to the election and what will happen in our nation on Tuesday. But may we remember that we serve a God who is far greater, far bigger and larger. Far more transcendent than the United States of America. Far more transcendent than any four year election cycle or ballot initiative. You are in the heavens and You do all that You please. You are the eternal God. And I pray that we would have an eternal perspective on all that You are doing in this world and what all that You are allowing to happen in this world. So God help us to be salt and light in this world. Help us to be clear representatives of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Help us to plead with those around us, to put their faith in Your Son because the time is near. The day of salvation is now and the end is coming. Help us to not lose sight of doing good. Help us to progress and advance good through our biblically informed consciences and seek to restrain evil. And in all aspects of our life God, tonight, tomorrow, all week long, may we seek to bring You praise and honor and glory. It’s in Your Son’s precious name we pray. Amen.