1

Esther 7 Esther chapter 7: The Mask comes off and Queen Esther reveals her petition to the king. As we see in verse one Haman and the King have arrived for the second banquet that Queen Esther has prepared. Now there is a lot that has transpired between the first and second banquet. The king is coming having not slept all night and Haman is coming with a crushed spirit and a heavy heart. Mordecai at the king's gate has been exalted by the king and has been paraded around the city square by Haman. So God has worked to set the mood for her second banquet where she will now reveal her petition. Notice verse two:

Esther 7:2 "And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" (NKJV)

The king is anxious to find out what Queen Esther's wants, he again asks "What is your petition, Queen Esther? And what is your request?" He used the same words as in chapter five: It shall be granted you up to half the kingdom, It shall be done! Remember this simply means that the king would be generous but the request had to be within reason, so Esther still had to word her petition and request very carefully. Let's see what she said in verse three:

Esther 7:3 "Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request." (NKJV)

Notice she says: "If I have found favor in your sight", she is appealing to the king here by stroking his heart strings - If I have found favor. Then she says "If it pleases the king", she shows that her desire here is not to please herself but to please the king. She is using her words very wisely.

2

Then she continues "let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request". Ok, I am sure the king is puzzled at this point. Then Queen Esther continues - verse 4:

Esther 7:4 "For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss." (NKJV)

"For we have been sold" - remember Haman paid the King 10,000 talents of silver to write the Decree. (Esther 3:9) Then notice Esther uses the very words that are used in the Decree "destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated". Let's look back Esther 3:13 "And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions." NKJV In hearing these words, the king would have to remember the decree and realize what Esther meant by sparing her life. Notice that Esther does not mention the Jews by name, but she identifies herself with them by including herself to be killed and by addressing the Decree it is known that it is the Jews that will be annihilated. Not only is king Ahasuerus listening to the Queen's request, but Haman the Prime Minister also. It is all coming together isn't it. You could just imagine Haman at this point. His heart is probably racing as the words of his wife and friends come to his mind:

Esther 6:13 "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him." (NKJV)

Then here he finds out that the Queen is Jewish. You know he was in fear for his life as he sees the King's anger well up. Stunned and outraged that any man would attempt to kill the queen now knows that he inadvertently signed the death warrant of his own wife. The king had to find a way to save his wife and save face at the same time.

3

So we see in verse 5 the king asks "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?" Esther 7:5 NKJV The providential care of God was guiding the conversation between the king and queen. In a brief but pointed statement, Queen Esther exposed the evil man as we see in verse six:

Esther 7:6 "And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" So Haman was terrified before the king and queen." (NKJV)

The king learned a great lesson here. He realized that he gave way to much authority to Haman - a wicked man. That he should have at least read the decree before putting his seal on it. Now his own wife the queen was at risk.

Proverbs 18:13 "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame on him." (NKJV)

The king didn't even know the nationality of the Queen something that would have helped to have known before the decree went out. Haman hearing his name come out of the queen's mouth as the one to who decreed to kill her was now terrified as we see in verse six. He was utterly helpless and hopeless before the king. So many times we try to hide our sin as if nobody knows so I won't tell. Haman probably never thought his evil revengeful ways would come back to bring he and his family harm. But Rest assure, Just as Haman's evil was exposed, so all sin will be exposed by God. Ladies, if we face up to our sin and just repent instead of trying to cover it up we will feel the forgiveness of our Lord instead of His wrath. If we just give our enemies to the Lord and allow Him to deal with them rather than taking revenge, we will feel the love of our Lord rather that His wrath. Esther and Mordecai put their enemy, Haman in the hands of the Lord. You remember they fasted and prayed asking for the Lord's guidance, protection and strength before going before the king to expose Haman's plan. Scripture tells us that all acts of sin, wickedness, and evil will be exposed and brought out into the light.

4

Luke 12:2 "For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known." (NKJV) Ecclesiastes 12:14 "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. (NKJV)

You cannot hide from God. Job 34:21 "For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all his steps."

There are a lot of people like Haman, I am sure you have a person that comes to mind. But we need to be careful that we don't get caught up totally in the wickedness of Haman but learn from Him. Take this powerful warning from the Lord that we need to make sure we don't take revenge into our own hands, that we watch our own temperaments and make sure that we don't have hatred and jealousy in our own hearts. Esther had just exposed Haman's deception in leading the king Ahasuerus to issue the Decree of Annihilation and we now see in verse seven that the king was full of wrath. Let's look at what scripture says:

Esther 7:7 "Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king." (NKJV)

The king was so angry that he left the banquet and went out to the palace garden. Scripture does not tell us why he went out to the garden, but you can imagine this news he just heard was not what he was expecting. He needed time to process all that had been said. Now Haman has been around king Ahasuerus long enough to know his moods and he had every sign given here to fear for his life. Haman knew he lost favor with the king and in his anger he would not be able to rationalize the circumstances, so he felt his only option was to plead with Queen Esther for his life. Verse 8 shows that while pleading for his life, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was.

Esther 7:8 "When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the

5

house?" As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face." (NKJV)

What timing...the king walks back into the room and see's Haman laying across the couch. Look at his response. Angrily, he charged the prime minister with assaulting his wife. This sealed the fate of Haman even though he was just pleading with the queen. As those words left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. It was a custom to cover a criminal's face because they were no longer worthy to look at the king's face. So immediately Haman's face was covered with a veil or a napkin so he could not look at the king.

Proverbs 11:8 "The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.

Haman meant harm to the Jews but God would not allow this annihilation to happen. God said I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. Haman sinned against God - and he didn't heed His warning.

Matthew 7:2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measure back to you." (NKJV)

Verse 9 one of the eunuchs, Harbonah, tells the king about the gallows which Haman had made for Mordecai. Those very gallows Haman will be hung on as we see in verse 10.

Esther 7:9-10”Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, "Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him on it!" 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided." (NKJV)

Haman's wife and friends had warned Haman prior to going to the banquet, and now here comes Haman his face covered being escorted by the king's eunuchs to be hung on the very gallows he had made. Haman's execution is a clear picture of the surety of judgment. No matter who the person is, even if he is the prime minister of a nation, he will face the judgment of God for the deeds he has done.

6

Galatians 6:7 "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (NKJV)

Haman sowed anger against Mordecai, and he reaped anger from the king. Haman wanted to kill Mordecai and the Jews, and the king killed Haman. We do reap what we sow, but we have to remember reaping and sowing are not just the bad things in life but it also applies to what is good.

Galatians 6:8 "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (NKJV)

As we said last week, it took five years before Mordecai saw his reward, but he received it in God's timing. No good deed done for the glory of Jesus Christ will ever be forgotten before God. No loving word spoken in Jesus' name will ever be wasted. If we don't see the harvest in this life, we'll see it when we stand before the Lord. Even a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ will have its just reward. Haman received his punishment for going against God's people the Jews. Every enemy that has ever tried to destroy Israel has been destroyed.

Genesis 12:3 "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed". (NKJV)

God will always keep His promises. Whether it's Pharaoh in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Haman in Persia, Hitler in Germany, or Stalin in the Soviet Union, the enemy of the Jews is the enemy of the Almighty God and they will not succeed. Haman is killed as he hung on the gallows, but the Jews were still left with a major problem. The king's edict to annihilate the Jews was still in effect. Just because Haman the originator of the decree was dead does not mean the decree was nil and void. Persian law stated even the king could not change it. We will learn, as we meet next time, how God works through king Ahasuerus, Esther and Mordecai to address the decree. Until then, continually seek God's plan in your life as he directs your path. God Bless