Setting the trap

Esther was willing to die to save her people from destruction, so what was God’s response?

It began “On the third day” of her fast, Esther 5:1. She “put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace in front of the king’s hall” so she could be in the king’s direct line of sight on his throne inside the hall (1). She’d arrived uninvited by the king, which by Persian law meant the death penalty (4:11), so what would he do when he saw her?

It was probably a first in Persian history, because “When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court,” daring to appear uninvited, “he was pleased with her.” And then the relief in her three day weakened state when he “held out the gold sceptre” (2) indicating she could approach him without fear with her request. But then a shock too, because she hadn’t even said a word about what she was asking for, and the king was already offering her “up to half his kingdom” (3). 

Wow; this was going really well, so next step in the plan, an invitation “to the king together with Haman to a banquet she’d prepared for him” (4) – “him” being Haman who’d managed to persuade the king to kill all the Jews in Persia (3:9) – and at the banquet she’d then make her request to the king known (4:7-8). And the king was totally happy with that too. 

So’s Haman. He gets all his friends together to boast about his vast wealth and the lofty position the king’s given him, and now he’s the only person the Queen has invited “to accompany the king” to the banquet she’s prepared too. It’s all going splendidly well for him, except for the continued existence of Mordecai (13), so his lovely wife and friends suggest he build a gallows, get the king to agree to hang Mordecai on it next morning, so that Haman could then “go with the king to the dinner and be happy” (14).

That night, however, the king can’t sleep, so he calls for the record of his reign to be read to him, which gets to the part where Mordecai had exposed a plot to kill the king and saved the king’s life, but no record of Mordecai being honoured for such a noble deed (6:1-3). At which point Haman arrives “to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai” (4), and the king asks him: “What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?” (6). Haman thinks the king means him, but instead it’s the first stage in setting the trap of his own demise, and a great illustration of “When evil falls into its own trap”.…(next blog)