Esther 4-7

1. Mordecai appealed to Esther regarding the crisis of the Jews (ch 4). Esther’s uncle mourned in typical Jewish fashion, and his demeanor at the King’s Gate was noticed by the queen’s servants. When the queen heard the news, “she was overcome with fear” (v. 4). Esther received from her eunuch the report of the king’s edict, and she was perplexed. If she went to the king without his summons, she would be killed (vv. 10-12); if she did nothing, then all of her people would be killed—and perhaps the king would not spare her either (v. 13). Although the queen’s uncle mourned, he did so in hope, assuring the queen that deliverance would come from someone; he posited, “Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (v. 14). In Mordecai’s vision of things, perhaps God had arranged for one of His own to become royalty so as to protect and preserve a remnant for His name. Esther submitted herself into God’s hands, and asked Mordecai to arrange a fast amongst God’s people so that she might have a favorable hearing with the king. Her devotion was clear, “If I perish, I perish” (v. 16)
2. Queen Esther won a hearing with the king (ch 5). As Ahasuerus beheld Esther in the courtyard, her beauty again won his approval, and “The king extended the golden scepter in his hand toward Esther” (v. 2). Her request? Perhaps in order to further solidify the king’s benevolence toward her, she requested only that he—and Haman—attend a banquet she had prepared (vv. 3-5). At the height of the event the king again asked of Esther’s concern, only to be invited to another feast on the following day (vv. 6-8), then she would present her need to the king. Haman left the banquet elated; of all the king’s subjects, Esther had chosen only him to dine with the king! All of this fanned Haman’s pride; he went home and boasted to his family of his greatness and the honor the king had bestowed upon him and all the future held for him. But Haman was yet unhappy; “none of this satisfies me since I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate all the time” (v. 13), he said
3. King Ahasuerus honored Mordecai (ch 6). Perhaps one of the most significant “Divine passives” in the Bible occurs here: “that night sleep escaped the king, so he ordered the book recording daily events to be brought and read to the king” (v. 1). Upon discovering the valor of Mordecai on his behalf, the king wished to honor the man who helped attend his gate—and who better than Haman to counsel the king in such a matter?!  When Haman heard of the king’s request, he “thought to himself, ‘Who is it the king would want to honor more than me?’” (v. 6). Thinking he was planning his own party, Haman informed the king that honor befitting such a subject should include being donned in royal apparel and paraded through the streets on a royal horse—in short being recognized in the glory of the king himself (vv. 7-9). In what must have seemed the conundrum of his life, Haman was commanded to carry out this plan, but for Mordecai (vv. 10-11)! When Haman returned home, even his family understood that in the eyes of Ahasuerus, Mordecai was of greater prestige than he; while they were sulking, “the eunuchs of the king arrived and rushed Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared” (v. 14) 
4. The queen informed Ahasuerus of Haman’s plot (ch 7). By this time the king’s interest must have been pricked; he addressed her formally: “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done” (v. 2). Esther told him that she and her people had been “sold out to destruction, death and extermination” (v. 4a). The king wished immediately to punish the instigator of such a plot. Upon discovering that the culprit was the other banquet guest, in anger “the king arose from where they were drinking wine and went to the palace garden” (v. 7). When he returned, he found Haman falling on the couch where the queen was seated! While Haman was actually falling down before the queen to beg for his life, when the king saw it he could not believe his eyes; enraged he thought: “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the palace?” (v. 8). In one of the most ironic turns in the Bible, Haman was hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai—“Then the king’s anger subsided” (v. 10b)

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