Esther’s Urgent Request
Scripture Reading: Esther 7
1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, 2 and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”
3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”
5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.
8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”
As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits [75 feet] stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”
The king said, “Impale him on it!” 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty . . . grant me my life . . . and spare my people. . . .”
Esther 7:3
Haman had planned to destroy the Jews (March 14). He had also set a day for the killing to take place (Esther 3:13). But God did not allow Haman’s scheme to unfold. Hearing the prayers of Mordecai, the people of Judah, and Queen Esther, God judged Haman.
When she heard the news about Haman’s plot, Queen Esther resolved to approach the king for his favor and mercy, even if it meant that she might die if he refused her (Esther 4:15-5:4).
And at a banquet she prepared, she said, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request.” The king now realized how vicious Haman’s plot was, and he agreed with Esther’s request.
God brought Haman’s evil scheme down on his own head. As Psalm 7:15-16 puts it, “Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads.” Haman was impaled to death on a pole that he had made for Mordecai.
People reap what they sow. Let us ask God to help us do good, and not evil, in all that we think, do, and say.
God, you see everything we do, and you know our hearts. Forgive us our sins, and help us to do good, showing love to our neighbors each day. For Jesus’ name, Amen.
