Esther 7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:
4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king’s damage.
5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?
6 And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
Generally banquets are times of celebration. However, Esther had something much different in mind with her banquet. The king was not interested in just visiting. He wanted to know what was on Esther’s mind. He again reminded her that she could ask up to half the kingdom. He promised he would take care of the matter under those terms.
In verse 3 Esther worked on the king’s emotions. She wanted to know if she had truly found favour in his sight. She needed to know that he was not just saying things, but that he truly meant it. Esther had subjected herself to pagan customs, and thus she did not have the assurance that the king would actually protect her.
Contrary to that reality, those who put their trust in the Lord do not need to fear that God might turn against us. He is faithful and He will look after His child.
In that same vein, Esther asked that her life be spared, along with the life of her people. Her request was not for any land. She just wanted to be able to live in peace.
In verse 4 she reminded the king of the consequences of his giving Haman the authority to write his letter to the entire nation. It seems the king had not been interested in reading the letter. He had placed his trust in a man that was not trustworthy at all.
Esther made it clear that she and her people would be content to be slaves, but they were not content to be slaughtered. Haman had offered ten thousand pieces of silver to cover the loss of tax revenue, but Esther pointed out that the losses to the kingdom would far exceed the ten thousand pieces of silver.
The king had not taken any real consideration of what Haman was plotting.
In verse 5 the king revealed his shock at what he was hearing. He wanted to know who would dare to put together such an evil plot. King Ahasuerus was a rather shallow thinking man, but he had some feelings for Esther. He did not seem to know about the Jews and Esther certainly had not posed any kind of a threat to his worldly and pagan lifestyle. That was not to her praise, but it was a fact.
Now the king wanted to know where this threat was coming from. Esther did not hesitate to enlighten the king. She rightly called Haman “wicked”. The slaughter of any group of people without just cause is wicked.
Haman certainly had not anticipated this situation. He thought he had the king and the empire in the palm of his hand. He was now discovering that he had grossly miscalculated this situation. He had already witnessed the king’s wrath. It was not always justified, but in this case it certainly was. He did not need to fear the queen except for her influence over the king.
As we have mentioned before, man can make plans but:
Proverbs 21:12 The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked: but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness.
It is important to make plans that glorify God. Our country has long been making plans that are contrary to God’s will. God has been very gracious and yet He is methodically showing us the disastrous results of this wicked plotting that has been taking place.
The recent rise in antisemitism is not good for the nation. We are in a grave economic situation, and we are not going to come out of it. The debt load we are carrying is unsustainable. Governments can fudge figures but reality still exists. The financiers are ready to pounce and the day will come when they will do just that.
When that day comes, true Christians will suffer along with the lost. In fact true Christians may suffer more because the wicked will see us as the problem. Of course there is the possibility that the Lord will remove the true Christians before the system collapses. The antichrist will have his hands full when he comes on the scene. He will have human issues to deal with, but he will also have God to deal with.
It is interesting how God settled the threat against the Jews in the book of Esther. The Jews would suffer, but they would be spared. There would be many Gentiles that would be killed due to Haman’s wicked plot. Of course Haman would be destroyed as well.
As we have noted before:
Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
We do not need to live a double life like Mordecai and Esther were doing. We can truly be saved and we can help others to see that knowing the true God is the only wise choice to make. In the midst of physical and material loss, it is important to know that you have a home in heaven.
Mordecai and Esther did not have that assurance. That was their fault. God would give them further opportunity to know the true God. As we have noted, God is gracious, not because we deserve it but because that is His nature.
It is important to humble ourselves and trust in Him and identify with Him.
Pastor Bartel