Esther 7 - So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, and as
they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther,
what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to
half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor
with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my
petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be
destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and
female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify
disturbing the king.”
King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is
he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile
Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden.
But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind
to beg Queen Esther for his life.
Just as the king returned from the palace garden to
the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen
while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they
covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one
of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty
cubits stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to
help the king.”
The king said, “Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set
up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
I hope you have read the story of Esther in it’s
fullness. It’s a great story of how
Esther saved the Jews in Persia, but the story itself is so well-crafted. I’ve read it dozens of times and I never tire
of reading it again.
The brilliance and skill of Esther in persuading the
King to help her people shows through in multiple ways. She holds a banquet with the intention of
asking the King at the banquet. But she
somehow senses the timing is not right.
So she invites the King and Haman to the banquet the next night. Though God is not mentioned, it is obvious
God is at work. The King can’t sleep and has one of his servants read to him
out of the King’s records. Of all the
things he hears, the account of how Mordecai saved the King’s life from an
assassination plot is read.
He asks, “have we even thanked Mordecai for saving my
life?” No they have not. The King plans to rectify that the next
morning.
Meanwhile, Haman is burning with hatred for Mordecai
and is planning to kill him in the morning.
In the morning, that plan falls apart when the King asks Haman what
should be done for someone who the King wishes to honor. So Haman, thinking it is him, comes up with
an elaborate parade and hullabaloo.
The King, says, “that’s good! Do that for
Mordecai!” So instead of lynching
Mordecai, Haman has to spend the whole day honoring him. Poetic justice if I ever saw it. Then, it’s time for the second banquet and
the timing is now perfect. You read
above how that went.
When I read this book about how Esther saved a whole
nation, I see the perfect example of what it looks like when someone uses all
their intelligence, discernment and even cunning to do what they know to do in
a tough situation COMBINED WITH a deep abiding trust that God will provide what
is needed at just the right time. This
sounds like a heroine worth emulating.
Prayer: God,
you know what I’m facing right now. Help
me see what I can do and trust you for what I can’t. Amen.
Prayer Focus:
Pray for as many members of our congregation as you can by name today,
Song: The
Battle is Not Ours – From Veggie Tales version of the story of Esther
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