Introduction
And so Esther has set a very delicate trap, and we come now to the point where the trap is sprung. She had planted in the king’s mind the suspicion that Haman was up to no good, after something, possibly including her. She had planted unreasonable security in Haman’s mind, which was perhaps why he thought the king was of course wanting to honor him. Thinking that was his first great misstep, and the honor went the Mordecai instead. The foreshadowing honor went to Mordecai, and as they arrive at the banquet, Esther is doubtless aware of the honor that Haman was forced to bestow on Mordecai. Esther had to have heard, in other words. Everything was perfectly arranged.
The Text
“So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 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. 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: For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish . . .” (Esther 7:1–10).
Summary of the Text
So the king and Haman arrive at the second banquet, and with Haman really off-balance. He is not in peak form (v. 1). The king addresses Esther as Queen Esther and asks again for her petition. Again, he says, up to half the kingdom (v. 2). She remains highly favored. And so Esther now delivers. She asks for her life, and the lives of her people (v. 3). They had all been sold, sold to perish (v. 4). She would not have spoken up if it had only been enslavement—even though the enemy couldn’t make up the damages to the kingdom (v. 5). And so the king naturally asked who the culprit was (v. 6), and that was the point when Esther turned on Haman, and identified him. And Haman was truly afraid. The king arose from the banquet in anger and went out into the palace garden. Haman then took that opportunity to plead for his life with the queen (v. 7). The king came back in to find Haman sprawled on the couch where Esther was reclining (v. 8). The king then blurted, “Is he going to force himself on the queen while I am here? In my presence?” And so the servants immediately covered Haman’s face (v. 8). And then a chamberlain named Harbonah volunteered that Haman had built a tall gallows for Mordecai, the man who had saved the king. The king immediately ordered that Haman be hanged (v. 9). So Haman was hanged there, on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. When that was done, the king’s wrath subsided (v. 10).
The King’s Reaction
Nothing about this moment was sexual in nature, and yet that is where the king’s mind immediately went. It had to be plain that Haman was pleading for his life, and not trying to force himself on the queen. The fact that the king interpreted it the way that he did is evidence that this was part of how Esther had unsettled him. He was already worried about that. He had already been stewing about it.
Esther’s Entourage
When Esther had told Mordecai to have all the Jews in Susa fast, she also said that she and her maidens would fast. And here, when the trap is sprung, there are servants on hand to immediately cover Haman’s face. And then a chamberlain, one Harbonah, was up on the fact that there was a gallows readily available, one that Haman had intended for the king’s friend, Mordecai. But Haman had never gotten to make that request to the king. So there was clearly some intrigue going on because Harbonah somehow knew what Haman’s intention had been. And from this it appears that Esther has the loyalty and cooperation of all the servants in her wing of the palace.
The Villain and the Problem
In this chapter, we see the central villain, Haman, taken out of the way. But the book is not yet done, and the people are not yet delivered. And so it is that we must distinguish the villain from the problem. The architect of the plot to overthrow the Jews is dead. But the law of the Medes and the Persians cannot be altered or amended, and so the plot that Haman contrived is still fully operational.
Remember how the enemies of Daniel used this fact against him. They tricked Darius into signing off on a decree banning any petition being made to any god, Darius only excepted (Dan. 6:7-9). The king agreed, not know that the plotters were going to use it against Daniel. When he found out, he did everything he could to save Daniel, but he could not. “Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him” (Daniel 6:14).
The king in Esther is in the same position. Haman is dead, but Haman’s plot, established in law, lives on.
Our first parents fell into sin through the enticement of the devil. The serpent tempted them to eat the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:4), and that ancient serpent was the devil (Rev. 20:2; Rom. 16:20). But once we had disobeyed, once we had embraced the way of death, it wouldn’t have delivered us if God had just vaporized the devil. The devil could be gone, and we would still be in our sins. So distinguish the villain, the tempter, from the resultant problem. Haman is dead, but the Jews are not yet saved.
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
The one with the power of death, the devil, has had that power taken from him. This can be the case, as it truly is, and yet some have not yet called upon Christ for their salvation. It is good to rejoice in the death of Haman, but it remains necessary to do what Mordecai says. It is good to exult that the devil has been toppled . . . but it is still needful to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.