Esther 7

Stephen Jennings

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We ended last week with a hurried, harried, and humiliated Haman, as well as a vindicated Mordecai.

Now, we must be off to Esther’s second feast.

Esther 7 ESV

1 So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7 And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9 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.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

Again, I think it is a good idea to remind ourselves of our surroundings.

We are something like 24 hours after the end of Chapter 5, but we are around 10 years after the start of Esther 1. Remember, we start in Ahasuerus’ 3rd year, and then Esther becomes queen in his 7th year. Haman starts his year of preparation for his holocaustic decree in the 12th year, ending it in Ahasuerus’ 13th year. The events of chapters 4-7 seem to take a matter of a few days, maybe around a week in real time.

As I said, the gap between the chapters keeps getting smaller.

So, we pick up with Haman being picked up by the guards to be escorted to the feast that Esther had prepared.

And I don’t know about you guys, but I wonder how that went down. Like, can you imagine if they drop Haman off at the palace, and he has to climb in the king’s litter to be taken over to the queen’s place. Like, the king, who is clueless about how he deflated Haman’s ego, is I’m sure gonna ask Haman how it went. Can you just imagine? “How’d it go out there today, Haman? Did the people really see that we care for Mordecai? How did Mordecai take it? Was he salty that we didn’t do this a few years ago?”

And Haman would just have to be so embarrassed! Not only has he been unknowingly humiliated by the king, but now he has just heard his wife and friends basically tell him that Mordecai is going to be his downfall.

Then again, maybe he just said, “you know what, I still get to go to this feast, and Mordecai doesn’t. I’m still second in command. And besides, Mordecai is gonna be dead in a few months anyway, because the law can’t be repealed.” Maybe he enjoyed himself.

Whatever the case, we see that they ate and drank as before:

Esther 7:1–2 ESV

And again we see the king ask, “OK, sweetie-pie, what is it you really want?”

Last time, we saw Esther deflect and invite to this feast. This time, however, she’s ready to talk.

Esther 7:3–4 ESV

3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4 For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.”

Esther lays it out.

“Here’s my request, King: spare the lives of me and my people.”

Notice her language: she doesn’t talk like the king’s wife, but like a grateful subject of the king. She is gracious and unassuming. She doesn’t presume. And she also doesn’t lower the boom on Haman immediately.

She is smart, she is clever, she is careful.

And look, she even goes so far as to say, “I’m only asking for relief because we are set to be slaughtered. If we were sold into slavery, I would keep quiet, because our suffering is worth less than your happiness and wellbeing, o king.”

She is very careful in her words.

Esther 7:5 ESV

5 Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?”

The king is taken aback. Who would dare to try and kill his queen?

He hasn’t put the pieces together yet. And I wonder if Haman has. I wonder if Haman is sitting there saying, “wait…is she talking about my decree?”

Before he has time to defend himself, Esther clarifies the position:

Esther 7:6 ESV

6 And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

Can you imagine the terror that must cut through Haman.

I mean, first he is incensed at Mordecai’s refusal to bow and show “proper deference.” Then, instead of getting permission from the king to kill Mordecai, Haman has to honor him and parade him through the city. And now, the queen is calling him a “foe and enemy.” This is the worst day ever for Haman.

I don’t know, maybe I have an overactive imagination, but I just picture Haman there, kicked back, fly-on-the-wall to a conversation between the king and queen, relaxing, trying to drown out the stress of this horrible day, taking a long drink of wine, when the queen calls him out. Like, did he spit his wine everywhere? Was he even really listening? I mean, we do sort of get the idea that he might not be the most attentive guy, unless the conversation is about him. Do you think that Haman, arrogant as he was, was maybe tuning the queen out? “Oh, this doesn’t concern me…let me just drink my wine in peace while they figure out this marital squabble.” Or do you think he was nosy: “Oh, the king and queen, bartering over something…I wonder what this is about...”

I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter much, because we are told that when Esther points to Haman, he is terrified.

I mean, this is like the President of the United States invites you to a state dinner, asks you to sit at the head of the table, and then the First Lady accuses you of treason right there, in front of God and everybody.

Haman was right to be terrified.

Esther 7:7 ESV

7 And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king.

Look, we see that the king has an issue with drink, right? Esther1:10

Esther 1:10 ESV

10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

Esther 1:12 ESV

12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.

We see that he has ebbs and flows in his anger, because remember, chapter 2 is three years (and a failed military campaign) later:

Esther 2:1 ESV

1 After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her.

Now we see that he “arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden.”

Now, Alistair Begg notes that he thinks that the king wasn’t trying to figure out what to do as much as how to spin this so that he doesn’t take the blame. Because the edict to kill the Jews came in the name of the king. And Begg does point out Esther’s shrewdness in “spilling the beans” as it were so that they only fell on Haman, and not the king. She could have said, in response to his question of “who has dared to do this?” “look in the mirror, you big dummy!” But she didn’t. She was careful to plant the blame on Haman.

I look at it a little differently. I have huge respect for Alistair Begg, and I don’t fully disagree with him here, but I do take a slightly different tack.

I think the king’s anger is hot, and I think he needed to get out of the room. But I don’t think it was just a stroll for fresh air. I think he was summoning the guards, too.

See, I think the king realizes his complicity in the matter, but let’s be honest: he has abdicated most of his authority to Haman anyway. I think he could easily say, “Look, Haman didn’t tell me which people he was talking about, and he hadn’t given me a reason not to trust him, so I did. He’s my prime minister, my chief of staff, of course I let him draft that decree.”

I think Ahasuerus has a short fuse. But I also think he has some sort of sense of priority for his relationships. He does seem to love Esther. We know he doesn’t seem to love her in the way we, as 21st century westerners who adhere to Bible-based monogamous marriages do. He had no box for that. He slept with who he wanted, when he wanted. But he did seem to have some level of true love for his queen. If he didn’t, why would he be angry?

And I think that is one of the more interesting things about this book as a whole. The king does not fit into our box as a faithful husband. He is far from it. But Esther isn’t the virgin Mary either. Esther has compromised her Jewish heritage and identity up until now, but she drew a line in the sand. We don’t have to like that about her. We can look at Esther and say, “you failed here. You should have done better.” But we also can’t throw stones at her, because what would we have done? I don’t know what I would have done. Begg summarizes it this way:

The Book of Esther God is at work when Esther works, and he’s also at work when she isn’t working.

So, she has donned her royal robes. She’s gone into the presence of the king. She’s gone through feast number one. Then there has been chapter 6, where she’s been doing nothing at all, apparently—presumably putting her makeup on. And then, back in chapter 7… (Sorry.) And then in chapter 7, she’s back in action again, proving the fact that God is at work when she works, and he’s also at work when she isn’t working. You can’t say that the whole thing falls because God needs Esther so badly that if Esther doesn’t do what she do, nothing will take place. That would be to give far too much prominence to the notice of our human responsibility. But nor can we say that God is gonna do whatever he wants to do; it doesn’t matter if there’s an Esther or not, because that would pay far too much attention to the notion of divine sovereignty, as if sovereignty happened apart from the agency of human engagement. It is a great mystery, isn’t it? Course it is!

She’s done a masterful job of concealing herself. She must have done. We’re not talking about concealing herself for a couple of weeks here or three or four months. We’re talking about concealing herself for some four and a half years. That must have involved incredible compromises on her part—not necessarily things that would be commendable in the sight of God. She was a child of Judaism. Therefore, she had the Law of Moses to contend with. Therefore, presumably, she didn’t. That wouldn’t be right. Frankly, that was wrong. Was it right for her to be wrong? No, it was wrong for her to be wrong. Well, did her being wrong jeopardize the fulfillment of the plan of God? No. Well then, does that legitimize us doing wrong things? No.

See, the beautiful thing about this story is the fact that you have people who are not perfect. They are flawed people, just like us.

So, I used to collect comic books, and I still enjoy comic book movies and stories. I love superheroes and things. And I always loved Marvel Comics over DC comics, largely because I liked the characters better. I never really cared about Batman, a supposedly normal man who was Über-rich, but could soar around as a vigilante, doing what he pleased, without recourse. Nor did I care for Superman, the perfect, always morally sound, invincible guy who was perfect. No, give me Spider-man, a guy who got started as a superhero because he chose not to stop a guy because he was frustrated at the victim, only for that bad guy to kill his uncle who serves as his father-figure. That failure fueled his journey. Or give me Iron Man/Tony Stark - a technological wunderkind who chose to be a hero in part as a way to fight his own demons (in the comics it was alcoholism). These characters were real, they were flawed, but they held to that “with great power, comes great responsibility.”

Here we see Esther, who has clearly compromised on her Jewish upbringing, realizing that she can hide no longer. It is time to stand and fight.

OK, back to Esther 7:7

Esther 7:7 ESV

Haman is begging for his life, the king has vacated the premises, and Haman is realizing very quickly that the king is gonna kill him. He is a dead man. His only chance is to get the Queen to speak out for him, and she is the one who indicted him.

And I think he, drunkenly, is trying to beg for his life.

I don’t know about you, but I know I have been so remorseful that I have fallen to my knees and begged forgiveness of my wife. Not drunkenly, but still.

I think that Haman is clinging to the place that Esther is sitting, begging for his life. And the king reenters the scene.

Esther 7:8 ESV

8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face.

The king comes in and sees Haman, without context, scrabbling at the feet or the lap of the queen. And, remember, the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking. Again, I don’t think that Haman is actually trying to assault the queen here, but I do think that this plays perfectly into Ahasuerus’ hand. He comes in, sees Haman all over his queen, and says, “You’re really gonna try to assault the queen while I’m right here, bro?”

The reason I think the king was gathering his guard is because of the immediacy of the action. As these words, as this accusation of assault leaves the king’s mouth, the guards cover Haman’s face.

The king comes in, the guards are there, he sees Haman clawing at Esther, and is like, “really, man?” Boom. Haman is bagged and tagged.

Esther 7:9–10 ESV

9 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.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

Harbona, who was mentioned in chapter 1 as one of the king’s eunuchs, is there with the king now. And in the serendipitous irony of it all, he gives the king a gentle reminder of Haman’s treachery.

We don’t see Esther explain Mordecai’s relationship with her to the king yet (that is next chapter!), but we do know that the king feels strongly for Mordecai, because Mordecai saved his life.

Yet, Harbona reminds Ahasuerus that Haman had built this gallows with the intention of hanging Mordecai on it. Again, we see how Harbona couches this - he refers to Mordecai as the guy “whose word saved the king.”

As if the king needed another reason to harm Haman.

Ahasuerus responds swiftly and succinctly. “Hang him on that.”

And that is the story of how Haman died, and the king’s wrath was satisfied.

Isn’t it ironic that Haman’s trouble started because Mordecai wouldn’t fall down before him, and now Haman has fallen before Mordecai and Esther and Ahasuerus because of his pride? He has fallen from the very gallows he had built for Mordecai.

Let that be a lesson. God seeks to use us, right where we are. But we must choose to follow Him. We must choose to obey. And we must be willing to endure the attacks of those who are categorically against God along the way. Let us learn from Esther and Mordecai (both the good and the bad) - Let us not compromise, but rather have the strength to stand. I’ll close with this passage, from Ephesians 6:

Ephesians 6:10–20 ESV

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.