“What Goes Around Comes Around.”
Esther 7:1-8:17
Haman, second in authority only to the Xerxes in the kingdom of Persia, is angry that Mordecai, a Jew will not show him proper respect and so he devises a plan to have the king sign into being a law, wherein not just Mordecai, but all the Jews are to be killed. When Mordecai hears of the decree he tells Queen Esther she must intercede with the King.
But to do so she has to risk her life in entering the king’s presence uninvited. After fasting (and hopefully prayer) Esther enters the kings presence, and is received by the king but she does not immediately tell the king what she wishes but instead invites the King and Haman to a banquet (5:4) at which Esther still does not reveal her request but invites the king and Haman to a second banquet (5:7). As Haman heads home from the banquet he again meets Mordecai who still refuses to honor him (5:9). He goes home to complain to his family and friends. They advise him if Mordecai is such a problem then just devise a way to get rid of him. Haman has a gallows built on which he plans to have Mordecai killed (5:14).
In Chapter six some seemingly insignificant events reveal the sovereignty of God at work. The king’s insomnia, led to him requesting that the Chronicles of his reign be read, and that reading revealed how Mordecai had saved the kings life and that nothing had been done to reward him (6:1-4). First thing the next morning Haman enters the room just in time to for the king to ask, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” (6:6) Haman thinking that it was himself who was to be honored had a ready-made list. He is then horrified to learn that it is Mordecai, his enemy, who is to be honored and he is to parade him through the city to see that he receive sufficient honor.
Haman returns home and the same friends who earlier advised him to build a gallows to get rid of Mordecai now tell him he is danger because of the gallows he had built. The chapter ends with the King’s eunuchs arriving to carry Haman to the second banquet with the king and Queen (6:14).
First, The King’s Quest. (7:1-4)
“So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 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!”
The king asks, “What is it that you wish?” Twice before the King has asked Esther to make her petition (5:3, 5:7). But somehow Esther sensed that the time was not right. As Solomon wrote, “…there is a time for every event under Heaven…a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Eccles. 3:1, 7). The struggle of course is to know when is the right time.
Charles Swindoll writes, “Do you know when to listen? Do you know when to speak up - and when to keep quiet? Do you know how much to say as well as when to say it? Do you have the wisdom to hold back until the tight moment? Those things make a difference, you know. Obviously, nobody bats a thousand on matters such as this, but the question is: Are you sufficiently in tune with God so read his subtle signals?” [Charles Swindoll. “A Woman of Strength and Character: Esther.” (Nashville: Word, 1997) p. 139]
So what do we do when we don’t know what to do?
Get into God’s Word.
Get on your Knees.
Seek Godly Counsel - from those you have seen exhibit biblical integrity in their own lives!
And Wait.
And while waiting Trust. [Swindoll p. 135]
But realizing that now is the time Esther speaks truth to the king. In verse three we read,
“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. 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.”
Still Esther speaks with great sensitivity and humility. As verse four records, Esther quotes the exact words of Haman’s decree (3:13) - “… we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.” She first wanted to make the king angry and then and only then reveal a target for his anger. The tactic is not unlike that of the prophet Nathan when he confronted David of his sin against Bathsheba (2 Sam 12). He aroused David anger and his resolve to see justice done before telling him who the “evil man” was.
Interestingly she says, “If he had only been intent on selling us into slavery I would not have bother you, but he planned to kill us, and of course this would have been a loss to the king.” She appeals on the basis of the loss to the king. (Probably the only thing the king is worried about anyway!)
Second, The King’s Anger. (7:5-7)
‘So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
The human response might have been to say
to the king, “What do you mean who is it! You are the one who gave Him the power to do this thing!” That would have been the wrong response but an understandably human one!
• Trapped Between Enraged King And An Offended Queen. (vv. 6-7)
“And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is
‘this’ wicked Haman!” So Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 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.”
The king in his anger stalked out the room. One commentator raises an interesting dilemma for Haman when she wrote, “….protocol dictated that no one but the king could ever be left alone with a woman of the harem. Haman should have left Esther’s presence when the king retreated to the garden, but where could he have gone? His choice was either to follow the king, who had bolted in anger from his presence, or to flee the room, suggesting guilt and inviting pursuit. Haman was trapped.” [Karen H. Jobes. “Esther” New NIV Application Comment-ary. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999) p. 165]
Haman instead decided to fall at the queen’s feet and beg her to save him, and still it was the wrong choice.
The king became angry. But why did go for a walk in the garden? We can be sure that it was so that he could control his temper? He is after all the king! It was not even so he could decide what to do with Haman, even Haman understood that his fate was already determined (v.7). His problem was how could he preserve his reputation, how could he punish Haman for issuing a decree that he had personally approved without losing face?
Third, The King’s Decision. (7:8-10)
“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 house?” As the word left the king’s mouth, they
covered Haman’s face. 9 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.”
Yet when the king returned he found that Haman had unwitting solved his problem for him. The king could hardly have really believed that Haman was prepared to rape Esther virtually in his presence. But it did conveniently provide the king with a charge against Haman without dealing with the real problem. The king apparently had no problem with fabricating charges against his own right hand man in order avoid the personal embar-rassment that dealing with the real issue would have caused.
Ian Duguid writing about Human responsibility vs Divine Sovereignty wrote. “Most Christians err on one side or the other of this equation (between Human responsibility vs Divine Sovereignty). Some are sit-back-and-pray types, whose motto is always, ‘Leave it to Jesus.’ For such people, the tendency is to wait for God to drop a solution to all of their problems right in to their laps. Others have activist personalities and are constantly saying, ‘If it’s going to be, it’s got to be me.’ For them, the tendency is to assume that the key to progress is following some three-step strategy. The Bible, however, sets before us the goal of the balance of prayer plus action, of leaning on Christ and …of resting in the Lord and walking with Him. Either one on its own is inadequate. Both together is the goal. The wonderful part of God’s plan, though, is that even when we get the balance wrong, He will still accomplish His holy will.” [Iain M. Duguid. “Esther and Ruth.” Reformed Expository Commentary. (Philipsburg: NJ, P& R Pub., 2005) p. 92]
Chapter eight
Fourth, The King’s Reward. (8:1-2)
The evil Haman has received his just punish-ment and in the beginning of chapter eight Esther and Mordecai receive their reward (vv.1-2).
“On that day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman.”
Esther and Mordecai receive their reward all that had belonged to Haman was theirs (vv.1-2) but Haman’s decree to exterminate the Jews had not been reversed.
Fifth, The King’s Irrevocable Law - Esther’s Second Request. (8:3-6)
“Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews. 4 And the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king, 5 and said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, …which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s pro-vinces. 6 For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”
Apparently, Queen Esther again entered into the king’s presence unannounced and again the king extended his golden scepter and thus prevent-ed her from being killed (v. 4) Esther pleads with the king to prevent the scheduled destruction of her people.
Three times in the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel it is emphasized that the law of the Medes and Persians once enacted cannot be reversed (Dan. 6:8, 12, 15). Haman may be dead but the decree that he had written was still very much enforce. So what can be done with an irrevocable law?
• Writing a New Decree. (vv. 7-8)
“Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and
Mordecai the Jew, “Indeed, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows because he tried to lay his hand on the Jews. 8 You yourselves write a decree concerning the Jews, as you please, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s signet ring; for whatever is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring no one can revoke.”
There is considerate debate among Bible scholars as to whether or not it is historically true the laws of the Medes and Persians were really irrevocable since there does not seem to be any extra-biblical confirmation. But one commentary suggests that it makes a“theological point about human destiny. Just as Xerxes king of Persia could not simply rescind the first decree of death, God King of the universe, cannot simply rescind the decree of death pronounced in the Garden of Eden against humanity. Instead, He issues a counter-decree of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because God did not simply rescind the curse of death on humanity, his counter-decree of redemption necessarily resulted in the incarnation of His Son and in that Son’s death on the cross.”[Jobes. pp.188-189]
On a human level trying to cancel the effect of the previous law which would have given the impression that somehow the king had made a mistake in enacting the first law so a way around that was to make a similarly unalterable decree that would cancel the effectiveness of the first law. The old law stands but the king allows a new decree to be written which has the effect of neutral-izing the old law – the Jews are allowed to defend themselves.
• Distributing A New Decree. (vv.9-10)
“ So the king’s scribes were called at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day; and it was written, accord-ing to all that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, the satraps, the governors, and the princes of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces in all, to every province in its own script, to every people in their own lang-uage, and to the Jews in their own script and lang-uage. 10 And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuer-us, sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on royal horses bred from swift steeds.”
The royal secretaries are summoned, just as they had previously been summoned two months earlier to record the decree written by Haman (3;12) and just as Haman did done Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes.
• The Contents of a New Decree. (vv. 11-14)
“By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions, 12 on one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day
of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar.
13 A copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province and published for all people, so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers who rode on royal horses went out, hast-ened and pressed on by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Shushan the citadel.”
The message of the new decree was that the Jews may take whatever measures necessary to defend themselves. And those that attack the Jews not only stand to lose their lives but their families and property as well!
Mordecai sealed the decree with the same signet ring used by Haman to seal his decree of death against the Jews. The new decree was sent out by mounted couriers to every part of the empire (v. 13 cf. 3:12).
• The Results of the New Decree. (vv.15-17)
The first result of the new decree was that Mordecai was recognized and honored. The first part of verse fifteen says, “ So Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, with a great crown of gold and a garment of fine linen and purple; …..”
Mordecai goes out from the presence of the king dressed as a king (blue and white are royal colors in Persia). The royal apparel that Mordecai has previously temporarily worn (6:7-8) when Haman had been forced to lead him through the streets proclaiming that the king had chosen to honor him was now his to keep. Some maintain that the word “crown” (v. 15) probably should be understood as turban.
But beyond that we are told, “…and the city
of Shushan rejoiced and was glad. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, joy and honor. 17 And in every province and city, wherever the king’s command and decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday. Then many of the people of the land became Jews, because fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
John Whitcomb observes the connect between verse seventeen that says, “the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a holiday” – No man’s joy is quite so great as the joy of one who has experienced and overcome grief. Only those who have wept can completely understand the fullness of hope contain-ed in the promise (of God found in the book of Rev-elation) ‘He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and…there shall be no longer mourning or crying.’ (Rev. 21:4) and of the Palmist who wrote, “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.’ (Psa. 30:5)” [John Whitcomb. “Esther: Triumph of God’s Sovereignty.” (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979) p.108]
The chapter ends with a very strange verse,
“…Then many of the people of the land became Jews.” (v. 17).The unexpected result was that, Gentiles became Jews (proselytes), adopting the principles of the people of God, giving up their paganism and turning unto the only true God.
Pastor Ray Stedman puts it is way, “When, because of your faith, your life … becomes per-ceptibly different; when you reactions are quite opposite to what the situation seems to call for and our activities can no longer be explained in terms of your personality; that is when your neighbor-hood will sit up and take notice…In the midst of circumstances that look like certain defeat, there is no more powerful testimony than the joy produced by faith.” [Ray Stedman. “The Queen and I.” (Waco, TX: Word, 1977) p.92]
Application
We need to be careful that our lives are not built around earthly successes. For one day we will discover just as Haman did, that what we have gained in a lifetime can disappear in the space of minutes.
“What Goes Around Comes Around.”
Esther 7:1-8:17
First, The King’s Quest. (7:1-4)
What is that you wish? Twice before the King has asked Esther to make her petition (5:3, 5:7). But somehow Esther sensed that the time was not right. (Eccles. 3:1, 7).
So what do we do when we don’t know what to do?
Get into God’s Word.
Get on your knees.
Seek godly counsel
And wait.
And while waiting trust.
Second, The King’s Anger. (7:5-7)
Third, The King’s Decision. (7:8-10)
Fourth, The King’s Reward. (8:1-2)
Fifth, The King’s Irrevocable Law. - Esther’s Second Request. (8:3-17)
• Writing A New Decree. (vv. 7-8)
• Distributing A New Decree. (vv.9-10)
• The Contents of a New Decree. (vv. 11-14)
• The Result of the New Decree. (vv.15-17) (Rev. 21:4)
“What Goes Around Comes Around.”
Esther 7:1-8:17
First, The King’s ________. (7:1-4)
What is that you wish? Twice before the King has asked Esther to make her petition (5:3, 5:7). But somehow Esther sensed that the time was not right. (Eccles. 3:1, 7).
So what do we do when we don’t know what to do?
Get into God’s ______.
Get on your ______.
Seek ______ counsel
And ______.
And while waiting _______.
Second, The King’s ________. (7:5-7)
Third, The King’s __________. (7:8-10)
Fourth, The King’s _________. (8:1-2)
Fifth, The King’s Irrevocable _____. - Esther’s Second Request. (8:3-17)
• Writing a New Decree. (vv. 7-8)
• Distributing A New Decree. (vv.9-10)
• The Contents of a New Decree. (vv. 11-14)
• The Result of the New Decree. (vv.15-17) (Rev. 21:4)
