Reflections on Esther 7

 Esther 07 (Contemporary English Version)

1. The king and Haman were dining with Esther
2. and drinking wine during the second dinner, when the king again said, "Esther, what can I do for you? Just ask, and I will give you as much as half of my kingdom!"
3. Esther answered, "Your Majesty, if you really care for me and are willing to help, you can save me and my people. That's what I really want,
4. because a reward has been promised to anyone who kills my people. Your Majesty, if we were merely going to be sold as slaves, I would not have bothered you."
5. "Who would dare to do such a thing?" the king asked.
6. Esther replied, "That evil Haman is the one out to get us!" Haman was terrified, as he looked at the king and the queen.
7. The king was so angry that he got up, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. Haman realized that the king had already decided what to do with him, and he stayed and begged Esther to save his life.
8. Just as the king came back into the room, Haman got down on his knees beside Esther, who was lying on the couch. The king shouted, "Now you're even trying to rape my queen here in my own palace!" As soon as the king said this, his servants covered Haman's head.
9. Then Harbona, one of the king's personal servants, said, "Your Majesty, Haman built a tower seventy-five feet high beside his house, so he could hang Mordecai on it. And Mordecai is the very one who spoke up and saved your life." "Hang Haman from his own tower!" the king commanded.
10. Right away, Haman was hanged on the tower he had built to hang Mordecai, and the king calmed down.

---

Only God could have orchestrated events as they occurred and turned tables on Haman as was done. At Esther's second banquet for the king and Haman she finally told the king her request of him. It was for him to spare her life and that of her people. The king was incensed that someone would do such a thing say, "Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?" (7:5) Esther replied that, "The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman." (7:6) We can see now the wisdom of having Haman present when she told the king her request to save her people. Haman, "stood terrified before the king and queen," we are told. (7:6) The king only had to look at Haman to know he was guilty.

Angered at this, the king left the room. We are not told of his reason for leaving, but might it have been to ponder his own role in the plot to kill Esther's people? If so, it may have angered him even more at being used by Haman to carry out his plot. The king returned to the banquet room to find Haman, "falling on the couch where Esther was reclining." Though Haman was begging for his life, the king thought he was trying to sexually assault the queen and was further enraged.

As already mentioned, only God could have orchestrated events in turning the tables on Haman as they did. But there was one more piece to be added to God's plot against Haman before his judgment was complete. One of the royal eunuchs pointed out to the king that Haman had built a 75 feet tall gallows on which to hang Mordecai, reminding the king that Mordecai was the one who saved his life from an assassination plot. Now the last piece of Haman's judgment was in place. The king gave the order to hang Haman on his own gallows and it was immediately done. In one day Haman went from second in command in Persia to being executed, all a result of his own pride.

Haman had reaped what he had sown, but more importantly God's plan to save His people was coming into place.