Shameless Self-Promotion Series

-Now Xerxes is a pretty savvy guy. He knows that something is up.

VS 6 And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

-You get the idea that these ancient kings were a little impetuous.

-On the one hand Xerxes might kill you if he’s in a bad mood and you walk into his throne room.

-On the other hand he might offer you half of his kingdom if he was in a good mood.

-Now he really wasn’t offering her half of the kingdom.

-He’s saying Esther, tell me what you want...name your favor…

-This was a saying.

-We may take someone out to dinner and say “order whatever you want, I’m buying” but we don’t expect someone to order the most expensive items on the menu.

-Esther...up half the kingdom.

-Esther and all the Jews had been praying and fasting for days…

-What were they fasting for? They were hoping for an audience with Xerxes. Got it.

-Why did they want an audience? To ask the King for mercy.

-So here she is...she’s got an audience with Xerxes, he has shown her favor...now is the time to make her request and what did she say?

VS 7 Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. (her pulse was pounding) 8 If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask,(heart is in her throat)....please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you.” Then I will explain what this is all about.”

-That’s not what she came to say.

-That’s not what she wanted to ask for

-The commentators speculate why she didn’t ask.

-Some think she was working a carefully laid plan...if you look closely at the original language and you find the Hebrew term for she “chickened out”.

-She got there and chickened out. Ever chicken out?

-Try to witness. Try to tell someone the truth. Need to confront. Need to ask favor.

-But you can’t blame her. Her life was on the line.

-Her family member’s lives were on the line.

-Her whole race of people were facing annihilation. Huge pressure here!

-For all the pressure and turmoil going on inside of Esther I find verse 9 to be fascinating. It says...

VS 9a Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet!

-Esther was a blessing to the people around her.

-Because we know the end of the story it’s easy to suppose that Esther wanted Haman to pay for his crimes with his life.

-It’s easy to think that Esther invited Haman to the banquet for a big confrontation.

-But that wasn’t what happened.

-Remember, Mordecai sent Esther to the King to ask for mercy.

-She didn’t invite Haman to a banquet to accuse him, she invited him because he’d made the edict against her people and she wanted mercy from him.

-She had no way of knowing how things would turn out.

-She had no reason to expect Xerxes to reverse the verdict.

-So here she is in the presence of her mortal enemy...and he walks away from her as “a happy man”.