The King Executes Haman
Esther 7 NLT
7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. 2 On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. 4 For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
5 “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”
6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. 7 Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.
Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. 8 In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.
The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.
9 Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
Examine the Scriptures
Esther 7 NLT
The King Executes Haman
7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet.
Remember how chapter 6 ended.
6:14 While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.
- Haman may not have known the connection between Esther and Mordecai.
Esther 5:5-9 NLT
5 The king turned to his attendants and said, “Tell Haman to come quickly to a banquet, as Esther has requested.” So the king and Haman went to Esther’s banquet. 6 …
9 Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet! But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious.
- Haman was a happy man when he left the first banquet.
2 On this second occasion,
- King Xerxes and Haman attend Esther’s second banquet.
Five banquets are mentioned in the book of Esther.
Two given by King Xerxes.
One given by Queen Vashti.
Two are given by Queen Esther.
while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request?
I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
- Again King Xerxes promised Esther that he would grant her wish.
Note: Throughout the story King Xerxes treats Esther well.
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request,
Esther was well “coached’.
Esther received lots of good training and council from Mordecai.
Esther received good training from the personnel in the king’s haram.
Esther was a receptive student.
Esther was respectful and her words were well chosen.
- Respectful appeals go a long way.
I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared.
This time Esther got right to the point. She petitioned for her life and for the lives of her people.
Esther was appealing to the king to spare the Jews much like Moses had appealed to Pharaoh.
4 For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us.
Esther explained that all her people had been sold into extension.
Esther 3:9 NLT
9 If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.”
Esther 4:7 NLT
7 Mordecai told him the whole story, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews.
Esther used Haman’s words.
Esther 3:13 NLT
13 Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.
- Esther asks the king to spare her life and the lives of her people.
- It is now clear to King Xerxes that Esther is a Jew.
Esther 2:8-20 NLT
8 As a result of the king’s decree, Esther, along with many other young women, was brought to the king’s harem at the fortress of Susa and placed in Hegai’s care. … 10 Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so. 11…17 And the king loved Esther more than any of the other young women. He was so delighted with her that he set the royal crown on her head and declared her queen instead of Vashti. 18 ….
19 Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and Mordecai had become a palace official, 20 Esther continued to keep her family background and nationality a secret. She was still following Mordecai’s directions, just as she did when she lived in his home.
If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”
- Esther humbly justifies her request because of the severity of the attack on her and her people.
Esther would have known how upset King Xerxes had gotten with Vashti when she was not submissive to the king.
5 “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”
- The king appears to be surprised by what he was hearing.
Again King Xerxes did not get upset with Esther.
King Xerxes appeared to want to protect Esther.
He asked for more information about who was doing such a thing to Esther and her people.
6 Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.”
Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen.
Haman’s honor had quickly turned to humiliation, and then to horror.
- At this point in time, Haman knew that his fate was sealed.
7 Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.
He could have gone into the palace garden for any number of reasons. Scripture does not go into detail about this action.
The king may have wanted to be alone to process all the information he had just heard. It appears that he was hearing things for the first time.
Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him.
8 In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.
Even under normal circumstances it would be inappropriate to touch a Persian queen, much less be on the same couch with her.
- Haman pleads for his life.
Remember:
Proverbs 16:18 NLT
18 Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.
Luke 14:11 NLT
11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
James 4:6 NLT
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?”
- King Xerxes interpreted Haman’s plea for mercy to be an act of violence against Esther, rather than a plea for mercy.
And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.
Covering the head of a condemned prisoner is a well-known custom.
9 Then Harbona, one of the king’s eunuchs (and no friend of Haman), said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”
The third of three capitol offenses charged against Haman.
-
- He had manipulated the king in planning to kill the queen’s people.
- He was perceived to accost the queen.
- He planned to execute a man whom the king had just honored for loyalty to the kingdom.
“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. 10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
- Haman is impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai.
Psalm 9:15-16 NLT
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
16 The Lord is known for his justice.
The wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
The tables have now been turned, but the Jews were still in serious trouble.
The king’s edict to eradicate them was still in effect.
Review:
Esther 3:12 NLT
12 So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
- A decree to execute all of the Jews in the Persian Empire was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring.
- A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable
Per a Persian decree there would still be a great slaughter of many innocent people because of the wicked actions of Haman.
