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Esther 7:1-10

On February 26, 1935 three men positioned themselves in a vast field just outside the market town of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England to demonstrate a technology that would ultimately help win the Battle of Britain during WWII. The demonstration involved radio signals from a BBC short-wave transmitter and a Handley Page Heyford aircraft. The demonstration was a success and led to the first practical radio system for detecting aircraft. The gentleman credited with that discovery and demonstration was Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt.

Ironically, later on, driving in Canada, Watt found himself caught in a speed trap – a radar trap. Watt wasn’t just a clever man. He was also a humorous man, and he wrote a little poem titled Rough Justice concerning this incident. It went like this:

Pity Sir Robert Watson-Watt,
strange target of this radar plot
And thus, with others I can mention,
the victim of his own invention.
His magical all-seeing eye
enabled cloud-bound planes to fly
but now by some ironic twist
it spots the speeding motorist
and bites, no doubt with legal wit,
the hand that once created it.

Now, I begin there because that provides an apt summary of what happens in Esther chapter 7, and if you have your copy of God’s Word, then let me invite you to turn there with me. What happens to Haman in Esther 7 is far more significant and far more devastating than getting a speeding ticket, but nevertheless, it’s rough justice.

I wish I had more time to give you a thorough review, but I don’t. So, let this suffice. We’re in Persia. Xerxes (a.k.a. Ahasuerus) is the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. Some Jews have returned to Jerusalem following their Babylonian captivity, but many have not. People like Mordecai and Esther, and many others, have remained in Persia, and in particular the Persian capital of Susa. Esther, by way of a beauty contest and the encouragement of her adoptive father, Mordecai, has become the new queen of Persia. Mordecai saved the king’s life but wasn’t immediately rewarded for it. Along comes a prideful, evil politician and governmental advisor name Haman who hatches a plot to kill, annihilate, and destroy the Jews – all because Mordecai won’t bow down and pay homage to him.

Mordecai has convinced Esther to use her position, as the queen, to intervene on behalf of her people and seek the king’s favor – that’s chapter 5. Keep in mind, now, she hasn’t revealed to her husband that she’s a Jew. Esther throws a tailgate party for her husband, king Xerxes, and his prime minister, Haman, where she’s asked, by the king, what she wants. Sensing what I believe is the Holy Spirit, she stalls and calls for the second party. Overnight, between the first party and the party we’re getting ready to read, king Xerxes can’t sleep, and his bedtime story reminds him that he never rewarded Mordecai for saving his life. This leads to the central pivot, the primary reversal in the entire story – honoring Mordecai and shaming Haman. And now we come to the second party.

You with me so far? Listen, it’s a quick read. You can catch up on all the details this afternoon. Follow along with me as we continue this dramatic story of deliverance that can only be written by the hand of God.

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.

“Father, we bow before You, a great and good God, thanking You that You have made Yourself known to us – the wonder of Your ways and Your dealings – in Your Word. And as we continue our study here in this book, from so long ago, our prayer is that You will make Yourself known to us. Help us to see ourselves and to see our Savior, and to turn to Him in repentance and in faith, for it’s in His name we pray. Amen.”

Well, as we seek to make our way through this chapter, I’ve summarized it in three headings. The first is Esther’s Answer.

Esther’s Answer

That’s what we’ve been waiting on since the beginning of chapter 5. You remember? She goes in (uninvited) to see the king and she’s literally putting her neck on the line. Coming into the presence of the king, without being summoned, could literally result in her having her head cut off. And we’ve seen enough of king Xerxes to know that he’s anything but emotionally stable. So, it’s a real possibility. But God is writing this story and God’s hand is upon Esther, and king Xerxes spares her life and raises his scepter in acceptance. It’s there is Esther 5:3 that we hear the king’s first inquiry. She says, “Hey, why don’t you come to a party that I’m throwing, and I’ll tell you there.” Xerxes and Haman come to the party, and in Esther 5:6 he asks again. And you might recall that I showed you that colon (:) in the text, and I suggested that it was really rare to have any punctuation in the original texts of Scripture, and yet it was there.

The point is this: Esther had a sensitive ear and a wise heart. She sensed something wasn’t quite right, and so, she didn’t push it. She knew when to act – and she knew when to wait. And the question that we have to ask ourselves is: Do we? Do we know when to listen? Do we know when to speak up – and when to keep quiet? Do we know how much to say, as well as when to say it? Do we have the wisdom to hold back until the moment is right? Those questions make a difference, you know.

Obviously, nobody gets this right every single time. Life and death decisions are rarely straightforward, but the question is: Are we sufficiently “in tune” with God to read His subtle signals? Do you remember Solomon’s counsel in Ecclesiastes 3, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” and then he goes through a laundry list of matters and verse 7 says, “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.” Silence was appropriate at the previous party, but not today.

And notice the shrewdness of Esther’s answer. She takes what Xerxes certainly intended to be a single appeal and makes it into two. See, when Xerxes said, as he did each time, “What is your wish and what is your request” I’m certain that he only intended it to be understood as a single response. Just like we do when we ask someone what their birthday wish is. “Hey, what do you want for your birthday? What’s your birthday wish?” We don’t usually expect multiple answers. Well, maybe we do. But that wasn’t the intention, right? Esther used the king’s question to present two requests.

And notice that both requests are inseparably linked. We tend to run the details of this story together, unintentionally mixing and mingling the facts – either because we’re familiar with the overall outcome, or because we read it in fits and starts – but Xerxes never knew what group of people Haman wanted to kill. He only knew that Haman wanted to get rid of a group of people. And Haman was crafty enough not to explicitly say which people. But Esther’s answer united two requests into one depiction of injustice, “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.”

And notice that she never implicates her husband. She never points her finger at Xerxes, and she never says, “Hey big guy, this ultimately rests at your feet.” No, she was careful to word her explanation in the passive voice and avoid any direct references to him. And her discernment continues in the second half of verse 4, “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.” In other words, she says, “Boo bear, I know that you have so many other important matters to attend to, that I wouldn’t even both you about this if we were just being sold into slavery – but we’re going to be killed.”

Naturally, Xerxes demands to know who’s responsible (v. 5) “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” Do you see, now, why it was so important for Esther to word her answer in just the right way? Kind of reminds me of the prophet Nathan confronting David after his sin with Bathsheba, right. You remember how sharp and astute Nathan was when he created that fictional story of the guest with the little ewe lamb and how the king took that little lamb away from the visitor. And David says, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity” (2 Samuel 12:5-6). Do you remember Nathan’s response? “Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’” (2 Samuel 12:7).

Esther doesn’t do that. That’s not smart. That wouldn’t be shrewd. Guys, this woman isn’t just pretty. She’s clever! Instead, she protects her husband and finally (v. 6), “Esther said, ‘A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!’” BOOM! Drop the hammer. Drop the mic. “Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.” That’s Esther’s answer. Now, let’s look at Ahasuerus’ Response.

Ahasuerus’ Response

Do you know what. Even if we didn’t have verse 7, I think that most of us could have filled that in. Don’t you think? This is the typical response of this guy. He’s enraged. He explodes. He storms out of the banquet hall and into the garden.

Now, let me just pause here for a minute. We’ll come back to the king in just a moment. I want you to think about who I’ve suggested is the author of this story. We’ve noted that God isn’t mentioned by name or title or reference throughout this entire book, and yet He’s working. He’s orchestrating this story in such a way as to make it clear that He’s the author. He’s sovereignly and providentially in control. Now, with that in mind, I want you to notice how frequently the scenes of this story are saturated with wine-drinking. And notice the overall emotion and feeling of the scenes.

The book opens up with a huge celebration and the wine is flowing. In fact, at this opening party, there’s only one rule: there’s no limit. Give each man as much as he wants. It’s at this opening party that we read that king Ahasuerus is in “high spirits from wine” (Esther 1:10) And what did he do? He made a foolish request that his former queen parade herself in front of his buddies. When she refused, he made another foolish mistake and banished Vashti. Then, when Haman presents this plot to kill the Jews, he and king Ahasuerus wrap up the day’s events with a drink. Then, at the first banquet (chapter 5), Ahasuerus and Haman were drinking again. Then, when this chapter opens up, they’re drinking again.

Now, I’m not a “T-totaler.” In fact, the same Bible that gives strong warning against drinking also says that God made “wine to gladden the heart of man” (Psalm 104:15). And it was wine that Jesus consecrated at the Lord’s Supper. He could’ve used fruit juice if he wanted, but He didn’t. He used wine. So, I’m not completely and utterly against alcohol. But, if God is the ultimate author of this story, don’t you wonder what He might be trying to say to us when he includes so many scenes with drinking and the negative consequences, and the anger and foolish decisions that are made in the presence of such indulgence? Is it possible that God is trying to say something rather clear to some of us?

Now, back to the king. He storms out of the room and into the garden. The Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly why he went into the garden, but it is pretty clear that – of the party attendees – he’s the only one to leave. Haman stayed and Esther stayed. An awkward moment, no doubt. But I want you to see the king storming out into the palace garden alone. Besides sleeping in his bed at night, when have we ever seen him alone? Never. He always has somebody around, whether it’s advisors, or counselors, or military personnel, or attendants. The man always seems to have someone that he can turn to when he needs to make sense of something. But not this time.

I think he’s out in the garden – this is pure and utter speculation on my part – but I think he’s out in the garden on the horns of a dilemma. See, he finally recognizes that he has to decide on his own. He finally recognizes that he signed Haman’s edict into law. He finally recognizes that he backed it up with the authority of his royal signature. He finally recognizes that he’s as much responsible for the potential demise of his queen and the death of the Jewish people as Haman is – maybe even more so. And he’s wondering exactly what he’s going to do, what he’s going to say. What’s going to be his response.

Notice verse 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?’” Now there are only two ways to see what’s going on here. The first is to see what Xerxes saw, or rather what he thought he saw, which was Haman trying to rape his wife. I think this was due to his impairment. Why do I think that? Because Haman already knows he’s dead. Verse 6 ends with him being terrified in the presence of the king and the queen. But even more so than that, the rules of decorum were such that no man, other than those assigned to the queen were allowed to be within seven paces of the queen or any of the king’s harem. And we thought social distancing was a new thing.

The other way to view this is what I believe was intended. Haman was throwing himself down upon the mercy of Queen Esther. Mervin Breneman, in his Old Testament commentary on Esther writes, “Haman, in typical Near Eastern form, probably grabbed the feet of Esther, kissed them, and begged for forgiveness.” Plus, this is in keeping with the reversals we’ve seen throughout the book, right? Mordecai (the Jew) doesn’t bow down to Haman, but now we find Haman bowing down the Esther (the Jew). Poetic justice is everywhere, isn’t it?

Esther’s Answer… Ahasuerus’ Response… Finally, Haman’s End

Haman’s End

It’s lights out for Haman. That’s what we read at the end of verse 8, “As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face.” It’s customary in the Roman world, in the Greek world, and apparently in the Persian world too, that when a sentence of death was issued, the person on the receiving end would have their face covered.

Job 5:12-14 describes Haman well, “[God] frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end. They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.” Haman meets with darkness in the daytime. The judgment of God falls on Haman, and we say to ourselves “Hoorah, the bad guy gets what’s coming to him.” And Harbona says (v. 9), “Well, you know, he built gallows for the hanging of Mordecai – who, by the way, king, saved your life.” There’s nothing left out here, is there?

Now, as we bring this to a close, I want you to see how Esther 7 foreshadows what we see played out for us in the New Testament. Now hear me well. Listen closely. Don’t take this analogy too far. This is not a perfect allegory, but I want you to see some of the connections here in Esther 7 to the New Testament. We’ve been studying a book that never mentions God’s name, and yet the hand of God is all over the place. Let me show it to you here.

In Esther 7, who does King Xerxes represent? You. Me. We think of ourselves as the little kings of our own lives – eating, drinking, being merry, half the time not even paying attention to anyone except for ourselves. I’m right. I’m never wrong. (Again, don’t draw a bold line between these connections. If you were going to put this on a chalkboard you might draw a dotted line, or a faint line. Not a hard line.) Who does Queen Esther represent? The Holy Spirit and the Word of God – who confronts my life and convicts me of my sin in light of the truth of the Word of God. Well, then, who is Haman? Haman represents two different things.

First, he represents the “flesh.” Listen to Paul, in Romans 6:6-7, 11, “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin… So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” And what you have, here in Esther 7, is this: put the old self, put the old man, put the flesh on the tree.

And the second thing that Haman represents is the One who was covered in our sin and nailed to the tree. Now, remember, I said don’t take this analogy too far. There were plenty of things that Haman did that weren’t Christ-like. I’m not suggesting that Haman was like Jesus in the way that he lived. But I am suggesting that Haman’s death is – in some measure – a picture of our salvation in Jesus.

Think about it, as all the people of Persia saw Haman hanging there, they knew what he’d done. No doubt, the word got out about what he’d done – all of his deception, all of his wickedness, all of his evil scheming. Again, listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake He [God] made Him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God.”

In a mysterious and yet very clear way, rough justice is served. It won’t be served at the thrones and the courts of the Ahasueruses of this world. Persia is long gone. The emperors of our world are just a footnote in history. But Jesus Christ is King. He’s the One who’s in charge of the great reversals. He turns us from darkness to light, from sadness to joy, from death to life. God achieves His purposes through the preservation of His people here in Persia, and all the way through, and ultimately in the provision of His Son as a Savior, the gift of salvation to the world for all who will believe.

“Father, thank You for the Bible, and thank You for the privilege of thinking these things through with us. Grant us a conviction that shows us who we are and who Jesus is. May the unclear and confusing things be lost; anything that’s wrong, may it be banished from our recollection, so that we might affirm again that beyond the voice of a mere man, we actually listen to You, the living God. And how humbled we are to think that You, the One who made the entire universe, would come and speak to us in such a manner. Hear our prayers, O God; for we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.”