Speak Up

Why did the king walk out of the room? Some have suggested that it was to gain control of his temper. But he had never tried to control his temper up to this point. As the king was walking around in the garden, he may have been contemplating the fact that he had inadvertently almost caused the death of his wife. This would have been the second time that a not well thought out ruling from him had cost him his wife – first with Vashti and now with Esther. But I think that the main reason he went into the garden was to try to assimilate this new information, make sense of it and decide what to do about it. Two opposing philosophies were competing for his attention and loyalty. Esther was queen of the nation and his wife. Haman was the prime minister of the entire empire and his most trusted servant. Who was he to believe? Who was he to listen to?

Believing that the king had already decided his fate, Haman figured that there was no point talking to him and trying to get him to change his mind. [read vs. 7b] Haman figured that Esther, being a female, was more likely to be compassionate toward him. He who wanted respect and was so proud found himself begging and groveling at the feet of a woman – a Jewish woman – when his life was at stake. Haman, as he grovels before the queen, probably makes all kinds of excuses for his actions. “If I had only known, I would have never…” He knew that his life was on the line, so he was willing to do whatever it took to secure his rescue.

Have you noticed that much of the story of Esther rests on the right people being in the right place at the right time? Mordecai was in the right place to overhear the plot against the king’s life back in chapter 2. Haman was in the right place at the right time to suggest the way of honoring Mordecai and to be the one who carried out that honoring in chapter 6. Esther, being the queen was in the right place at the right time for when the Jews were threatened with extinction. And here, there is one more instance of perfect timing. [read vs. 8]

Xerxes may or may not have already decided to destroy Haman. If I believed that someone was plotting my wife’s murder, I certainly wouldn’t leave the two of them alone together, especially right after she made her accusation against him. (They were alone. Otherwise, someone would have stopped Haman from getting so close to Esther.) Even if the charges were untrue or not believed, the charges alone were enough for Haman to be motivated to murder. Up to this point, neither Xerxes nor Haman had known that Esther was a Jew. Xerxes might have been willing to excuse Haman’s actions based on his ignorance. But once he saw Haman falling all over his wife, there was no more room for debate about Haman’s fate.

 Result (vs. 9-10)

Harbona was quick to volunteer information useful in the disposing of Haman. Haman had made enemies. Proud people who crave unearned respect usually do make enemies. Harbona must not have liked Haman very much, especially not now that he discovered Haman’s attack on the queen. Remember that everybody who knew Esther loved her. Somehow Harbona had found out about the gallows and who they were intended for. It was kind of hard to hide the gallows. They were 75 ft. tall. They would have attracted quite a bit of attention. As people came by, they would have asked the purpose of the gallows.