The King Executes Haman

Esther 7 NLT
^7:1 So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. ²On 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!”
³Queen 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. ⁴For 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?”
⁶Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. ⁷Then 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. ⁸In 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.
⁹Then 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. ¹⁰So 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.

^6:14While 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
⁵The 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…
⁹Haman 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.

²On 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.

³Queen 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.

⁴For 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
⁹If 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
⁷Mordecai 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
¹³Dispatches 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
⁸As 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. … ¹⁰Esther had not told anyone of her nationality and family background, because Mordecai had directed her not to do so. ¹¹…¹⁷And 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….
¹⁹Even after all the young women had been transferred to the second harem and Mordecai had become a palace official, ²⁰Esther 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.

⁶Esther 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.

⁷Then 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.

⁸In 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
¹⁸Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.

Luke 14:11 NLT
¹¹For 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.

⁹Then 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.

1. He had manipulated the king in planning to kill the queen’s people.
2. He was perceived to accost the queen.
3. 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. ¹⁰So 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
¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others.
Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
¹⁶The 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
¹²So 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.

God’s Heirs through Christ

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God’s Heirs through Christ

Adoption can be a very good experience.

Galatians 4:1-7 NLT
God’s Heirs through Christ
^4:1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. ²They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. ³And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.
⁴But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. ⁶And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

Examine the scriptures:

Galatians 4:1-7 NLT
God’s Heirs through Christ

Paul expands on the analogy of a child coming of age.

Young children who inherit an estate technically own everything their father had owned.

However, as young children, these heirs are treated as minors. (Treated as slaves.)

They are not free to do as they wish.

They are not able to make significant decisions.

If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they reach a certain age, even though they actually own everything their father had.

²They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set.

These heirs are under guardians who watch over them

and under trustees who manage the estate.

These heirs are treated like minors until they reach the age of maturity.

³And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came.

Before saving faith in Jesus Christ.

We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

Like children – spiritually immature.

The Galatians, as Gentiles, were not under the Mosaic Laws. They were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

Colossians 2:20-21 NLT
²⁰You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ²¹“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

Slaves to “religion”.

A man made system of works.

Laws and ceremonies to be performed to achieve divine acceptance.

That’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

⁴But when the right time came,

God the Father chose the time for Christ’s coming to earth.

God sent his Son,

Divine intervention.

God sent Jesus, the eternal second member of the Trinity.

born of a woman,

Isaiah 7:14 NLT
¹⁴All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).

Matthew 1:18 NLT
¹⁸This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

subject to the law.

Jesus was born under the law as a Jew.

Jesus kept the law perfectly.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
²¹For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Jesus fulfilled the Law.

Matthew 5:17 NLT
Teaching about the Law
¹⁷“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose (to fulfill the law).

Jesus rescued us from the curse of the law.

Galatians 3:13 NLT
¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Jesus was born under the law as a Jew.

Jesus kept the law perfectly.

Jesus fulfilled the Law.

Jesus rescued us from the curse of the law.

⁵God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law,

Freedom from the bondage of the Law.

Colossians 1:13 NLT
¹³For he (God) has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,

1 Peter 3:18 NLT
¹⁸Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

Why would Gentile converts want to be placed under the bondage of the law?

so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

Ephesians 1:5 NLT
⁵God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

The Galatians (all believers) could now experience the enjoyments and privileges of a mature son in the family of God because of Christ’s redemptive work.

When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law, to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

⁶And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,

All believers receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15 NLT
¹⁵So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”

God’s Spirit present in our hearts moves us (prompts us) to pray to God, addressing Him as Abba, Father. (Daddy)

An intimate Father child relationship.

As Christians we can experience an intimate Father/child relationship with God.

⁷Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

From slaves to sons and heirs.

Note that the “we”, “our”, and “us” in verse 6 has been changed to “you”.

Romans 8:17 NLT
¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

As believers we are God’s children and we are his heirs.

“We will…tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord…

so that they should set their hope in God.”

God’s Heirs through Christ

Galatians 4:1-7 NLT

^4:1 Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. ²They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. ³And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

⁴But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. ⁶And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they reach a certain age, even though they actually own everything their father had.

That’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.

Jesus was born under the law as a Jew.

Jesus kept the law perfectly.

Jesus fulfilled the Law.

Jesus rescued us from the curse of the law.

When the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law, to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

All believers receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

As Christians we can experience an intimate Father/child relationship with God.

As believers we are God’s children and we are his heirs.

God’s Children through Faith

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God’s Children through Faith

Galatians 3:23-29 NLT
²³Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.
²⁴Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. ²⁵And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
²⁶For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁷And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. ²⁸There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Examine the scriptures:

Galatians 3:23-29 NLT
God’s Children through Faith
²³Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law.

God gave the law, through Moses, to His chosen people more than 1400 years before the birth of Jesus.

Exodus 19:3-6 NLT
³Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel: ⁴‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. ⁵Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. ⁶And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.”

God instructed His people to obey the Law of Moses.

Malachi 4:4 NLT
⁴“Remember to obey the Law of Moses, my servant—all the decrees and regulations that I gave him on Mount Sinai for all Israel.

We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

The law was a guard, keeping God’s people in “protective custody” until the way of faith in Christ was revealed.

God had reasons for giving the Law.

The law instructed God’s people how to live their lives.

God always expected his people to live differently than those around them.

Both New and Old Testament

2 Corinthians 6:17 NLT
¹⁷Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you.

Leviticus 18:3 NLT
³So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.

The Law showed people the need for a Savior.

The law was temporary. The law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. (Galatians 3:19)

²⁴Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.

The law is like a child’s guardian. In Greco-Roman culture, a guardian was a faithful slave responsible for training and protecting the heir until he came of age.

²⁵And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

In Greco-Roman culture, a freeborn child who came of age was no longer under the discipline of a guardian but was free to rule himself.

A time came when the law was no longer needed as a guardian.

Verses from the next lesson.

Galatians 4:4-5 NLT
⁴But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. ⁵God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

God sent his Son, Jesus, to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

Now:

²⁶For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

John 1:12 NLT
¹²But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

To all who believed in Christ and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Romans 8:17 NLT
¹⁷And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

Christians enjoy all the privileges, responsibilities, and inheritance rights of God’s children.

²⁷And all who have been united with Christ in baptism

Baptism represents death of an old life and birth into a new one.

have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
¹⁷… anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

²⁸There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Human distinction lose their significance.

None is spiritually superior over another.

A believing Jew is not more privileged before God than a believing Gentile.

A believing slave does not rank higher, or lower, than a believing free person.

A believing male is not superior to a believing female.

1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT
²⁷All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.

Romans 12:4-5 NLT
⁴Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, ⁵so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

There are different roles.

Believers are all one in Christ Jesus.

All believers receive God’s promises.

²⁹And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham.

Jews and Gentiles who believe in Christ become the spiritual seed of Abraham.

Romans 9:8 NLT
⁸This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children.

You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

All believers are heirs of all that was promised to Abraham.

Galatians 3:6-9 NLT
⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” ⁷The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
⁸What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing (promises) Abraham received because of his faith.

The King Honors Mordecai

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The King Honors Mordecai

Esther 6 NLT
^6:1 That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. ²In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.
³“What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.
His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”
⁴“Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired. As it happened, Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.
⁵So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered. ⁶So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”
Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?” ⁷So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, ⁸he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. ⁹Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”
¹⁰“Excellent!” the king said to Haman. “Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”
¹¹So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square, shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!” ¹²Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.
¹³When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”¹⁴While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 6 NLT
The King Honors Mordecai

^6:1 That night

The night between the first and second banquet.

the king had trouble sleeping,

The night between the first and second banquet hosted by Esther, the king had trouble sleeping.

Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Again, God’s sovereignty is at work.

so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him.

Ancient kings kept recorded history of their reigns.

Reading can help put a person to sleep.

²In those records

At this point in time there would have been 12 years of recorded history for the reign of King Xerxes.

he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes.

Listening to 12 years of recorded history being read to him, the king discovered the account of how Mordecai exposed a plot to have him (King Xerxes) assassinated.

Esther 2:21-23 NLT
²¹One day as Mordecai was on duty at the king’s gate, two of the king’s eunuchs, Bigthana and Teresh—who were guards at the door of the king’s private quarters—became angry at King Xerxes and plotted to assassinate him. ²²But Mordecai heard about the plot and gave the information to Queen Esther. She then told the king about it and gave Mordecai credit for the report. ²³When an investigation was made and Mordecai’s story was found to be true, the two men were impaled on a sharpened pole. This was all recorded in The Book of the History of King Xerxes’ Reign.

This event took place 5 years prior to this part of the story.

What are the odds that this particular event would be read to the king?

³“What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked.

His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.”

Persian kings were known for their generosity to their supporters. (Some things don’t change.)

King Xerxes was about to make this right and would recognize Mordecai for saving his life.

If the king had already recognized Mordecai, the following events would not have taken place.

King Xerxes is reminded of the fact that nothing has been done for Mordecai for saving the king’s life.

The story now shifts to Haman.

The tables are about to be turned.

⁴“Who is that in the outer court?” the king inquired.

As it happened,

“As it happened”

Haman had just arrived in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

Haman just arrived to ask King Xerxes to allow him to kill the man who was responsible for saving the King’s life. This is the man the king was about to reward.

Wrong time with a wrong reason.

⁵So the attendants replied to the king, “Haman is out in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

Haman arrives in the outer court of the palace to ask the king to impale Mordecai on the pole he had prepared.

⁶So Haman came in, and the king said, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?”

Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king wish to honor more than me?”

The egotistical Haman assumed that King Xerxes wanted to honor him.

Once again Haman would have been filled with joy and enthusiasm.

⁷So he replied, “If the king wishes to honor someone, ⁸he should bring out one of the king’s own royal robes, as well as a horse that the king himself has ridden—one with a royal emblem on its head. ⁹Let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. And let him see that the man whom the king wishes to honor is dressed in the king’s robes and led through the city square on the king’s horse. Have the official shout as they go, ‘This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!’”

This was a description of a very unique honor.

Haman thought that he was describing the honor he was about to receive.

More than anything, Haman wanted respect from the people of the city. He delighted in public acclaim and recognition.

Haman already had great wealth. (Esther 3:9)

Haman already had power. (Esther 3:1)

Be careful what you ask for.

When Haman responded to the king’s question, “What should I do to honor a man who truly pleases me?” he thought that he was describing an honor he was about to receive.

¹⁰“Excellent!” the king said to Haman.

The king liked Haman’s suggestions.

“Quick! Take the robes and my horse, and do just as you have said for Mordecai the Jew,

Haman must have been in utter shock.

Haman’s heart most likely “skipped a beat”.

Haman would have been completely dejected.

Haman had no choice, but to obey the king.

Haman had to show respect to Mordecai. This is the exact opposite of what he wanted.

Remember the words of Joseph.

Genesis 50:19-20 NLT
¹⁹But Joseph replied … ²⁰You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

Haman must have been completely shocked when he realized that he had to publicly show respect to Mordecai, a man he hated.

This is the first of 5 times Mordecai is called “the Jew”.

who sits at the gate of the palace. Leave out nothing you have suggested!”

A Jew was about to be honored in the Persian Empire.

This is the exact opposite of Haman’s wish:

Esther 3:8-10 NLT
⁸Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹If 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.”
¹⁰The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

¹¹So Haman took the robes and put them on Mordecai, placed him on the king’s own horse, and led him through the city square,

shouting, “This is what the king does for someone he wishes to honor!”

Mordecai was being treated like a king.

God is looking out for his people.

Haman has no choice, but to obey the king.

¹²Afterward Mordecai returned to the palace gate, but Haman hurried home dejected and completely humiliated.

The tables are turned.

Mordecai reverts back to his normal routine while Haman hurries home dejected and completely humiliated.

¹³When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened,
his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”

The text does not explain why Zeresh and all his friends said what they said.

But we do know why this would be true.

The Old Testament is full of stories of God protecting and preserving His chosen people.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 NLT
¹⁰This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. ¹¹For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹²In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

The Old Testament is full of stories of God protecting and preserving His chosen people. Somehow, Zeresh and Haman’s friends must have known this was happening again at this point in time.

¹⁴While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared.

An event Haman had once desired he now dreaded, but he most likely had no idea of just how bad things would turn out.

The Law and God’s Promise

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The Law and God’s Promise

Galatians 3:15-22 NLT
¹⁵Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case. ¹⁶God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ. ¹⁷This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise. ¹⁸For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
¹⁹Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. ²⁰Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.
²¹Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. ²²But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Examine the scriptures:

Galatians 3:15-22 NLT

Review:

- - People who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse.
  - Scripture clearly says, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
  - The way of faith is very different from the way of law.
  - Salvation does not come by combining faith with the law.
  - Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.

The Law and God’s Promise
¹⁵Dear brothers and sisters, here’s an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or amend an irrevocable agreement, so it is in this case.

Irrevocable agreement

The Galatians understood “irrevocable agreements”.
A properly executed Roman covenant could not be arbitrarily set aside.

Other irrevocable agreements:

Occurred in the story of Daniel in the lion’s den and
In the story of Esther.

The Galatians understood “irrevocable agreements”.

The promises of God are irrevocable and unchanging.

James 1:17 NLT
¹⁷Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

¹⁶God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn’t say “to his children,” as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says “to his child”—and that, of course, means Christ.

The promises spoken to Abraham found fulfillment in Christ and are in effect forever.

As a descendant of Abraham, Christ was a Child of Abraham.

Matthew 1:1 NLT
This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham:

¹⁷This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.

645 years after the initial promise to Abraham. (Genesis 12)

430 years after the last known reaffirmation of the Abrahamic covenant to Jacob. (Genesis 46)

Galatians 3:6 NLT
⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

Genesis 15:6 NLT
⁶And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

The blessing of justification by faith is therefore permanent and could not be changed the law.

¹⁸For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.

The Abrahamic covenant is superior to the law

¹⁹Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins.

God gave the law alongside the promise.

Two events:

God gave promises to Abraham.

God gave the law to Moses.

But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised.

Romans 6:14 NLT
¹⁴Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

The law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised.

God gave his law through angels to Moses,

The Bible teaches that angels were involved in the giving of the law (Acts 7:53 and Hebrews 2:2) but does not explain the exact role they played.

Acts 7:53 NLT
⁵³You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.”

Hebrews 2:2 NLT
²For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.

who was the mediator between God and the people. ²⁰Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement.

A mediator implies a covenant between two parties both of whom have responsibilities, true of the Mosaic Covenant.

But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.

God’s promise to Abraham was unilateral and was given to man directly without a mediator.

²¹Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not!

God gave both the law and promises, but for different purposes.

The law was given to show people their sins.

God’s promises are salvation (righteousness) through faith.

God gave both the law and promises, but for different purposes.

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. ²²But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin,

Romans 3:23 NLT
²³For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

The Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin.

so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:3-4 NLT
³The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

Romans 6:23 NLT
²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Esther’s Request to the King

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Esther’s Request to the King

Esther 5 NLT
^5:1 On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. ²When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.
³Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
⁴And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”
⁵The 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.
⁶And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”
⁷Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. ⁸If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”

Haman’s Plan to Kill Mordecai
⁹Haman 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. ¹⁰However, he restrained himself and went on home.
Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children. He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.
¹²Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!” ¹³Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”
¹⁴So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it. When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.

Examine the Scriptures

Esther 5 NLT
Esther’s Request to the King

^5:1 On the third day of the fast,

Review

Mordecai has asked Esther to go to the king and plead for her people, the Jews.

Esther had been very apprehensive about doing this. (We can relate to this.)

Esther 4:16 NLT
¹³Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶“Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Mordecai and all the Jews of Susa, along with Esther and her maids fasted for three days.

A reminder for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall.

Esther had prepared, by fasting, and was ready to go to the king with her request.

The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. ²When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her.

A reminder of God’s sovereignty.

Romans 13:1 NLT
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT
The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
he guides it wherever he pleases.

The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

King Xerxes welcomed Esther.

So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

³Then the king asked her, “What do you want, Queen Esther? What is your request?

The king made it easy for Esther to make a request.

I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

This comment should not be taken literally. It simply meant that the king would be generous toward her request.

Mark 6:22-23 NLT
²¹… on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. ²²Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” ²³He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!”

⁴And Esther replied, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come today to a banquet I have prepared for the king.”

It was an unusual honor to be invited to a banquet with the Queen. Persian officials were protective of their wives.

Esther shares her real wish in chapter 7.

⁵The 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.

⁶And while they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “Now tell me what you really want. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”

King Xerxes knew that Esther was not asking for what she really wanted.

⁷Esther replied, “This is my request and deepest wish. ⁸If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request and do what I ask, please come with Haman tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for you. Then I will explain what this is all about.”

It may seem strange that Esther asked for a second banquet.

We don’t know Esther’s thoughts.

We don’t always know God’s thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
⁸“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Note: Remember, at this point in time King Xerxes had forgotten how Mordecai had heard about a plot, by two of the king’s eunuchs, to kill the king.

Without this information fresh in his mind, King Xerxes may not have looked favorably on Mordecai and the Jews.

God would providentially intervene between the two banquets.

Remember, at this point in time King Xerxes had forgotten how Mordecai had heard about a plot, by two of the king’s eunuchs, to kill the king.

God would providentially intervene between the two banquets.

Haman’s Plan to Kill Mordecai

⁹Haman was a happy man as he left the banquet!

Happy

But when he saw Mordecai sitting at the palace gate, not standing up or trembling nervously before him, Haman became furious.

Furious

Haman was on an emotional roller coaster. He went from feeling happy to becoming furious.

It could be seen as a very special privilege to be the guest of honor at a private banquet with only the king and queen two days in a row.

¹⁰However, he restrained himself and went on home.

Then Haman gathered together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, ¹¹and boasted to them about his great wealth and his many children.

Boasted

He bragged about the honors the king had given him and how he had been promoted over all the other nobles and officials.

Bragged

Proverbs 16:18 NLT
¹⁸Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12 NLT
¹²If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.

Galatians 6:3 NLT
³If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

Haman personified sinful pride.

Pride goes before destruction.

¹²Then Haman added, “And that’s not all! Queen Esther invited only me and the king himself to the banquet she prepared for us. And she has invited me to dine with her and the king again tomorrow!”

It could be seen as a very special privilege to be the guest of honor at a private banquet with only the king and queen two days in a row.

¹³Then he added, “But this is all worth nothing as long as I see Mordecai the Jew just sitting there at the palace gate.”

Haman was obsessed with the idea of killing Mordecai.

As long as Mordecai was alive, Haman’s great wealth, his many children, the honors he had received from the king, and his promotions over all the other nobles and officials were worth nothing to him.

Hate destroys:

Proverbs 14:30 NLT
³⁰A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body;
jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

Hebrews 12:15 NLT
¹⁵Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.

Proverbs 10:12 NLT
¹²Hatred stirs up quarrels, …

1 John 3:15 NLT
¹⁵Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

Hate destroys.

Scripture tells us to get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

Ephesians 4:31 NLT
³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

Proverbs 19:11 NLT
¹¹Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

1 Corinthians 4:12 NLT
¹²We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us.

1 Peter 3:9 NLT
⁹Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

Luke 6:27-28 NLT
²⁷“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

¹⁴So Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it.

75 feet tall is unusually high.

This is as tall as an eight story building.

This would tower above most, if not all, of the surrounding structures.

Haman’s wife, Zeresh, and all his friends suggested, “Set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall, and in the morning ask the king to impale Mordecai on it.

When this is done, you can go on your merry way to the banquet with the king.” This pleased Haman, and he ordered the pole set up.

Haman believed that he could “go on his merry way” if Mordecai was dead.

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

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Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

Introduction

Note: Nothing has been said so far in the book of Esther to suggest Esther and Mordecai were people of great faith in Yahweh.

Neither the word for God nor the name Yahweh (Lord), occurs in the book of Esther.

Even though the name of God is nowhere mentioned in the book, His sovereignty, divine guidance, and care are evident throughout the story.

Esther is a story of foreign powers vigorously trying to eliminate the Jewish race and how God sovereignly preserved His people in accordance with His covenant promise to Abraham.

Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help
^4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. ²He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning. ³And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.
⁴When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed. She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it. ⁵Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant. She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning. ⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.
⁷Mordecai 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. ⁸Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her. He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.
¹⁰Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹“All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” ¹²So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.
¹³Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶“Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” ¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Examine the Scriptures
Esther 4 NLT
Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

^4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail.

Mordecai’s response was dramatic.

Tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified mourning.

An outward sign of inward distress and humiliation.

Matthew 11:21 NLT
²¹…clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.

Mordecai’s feud with Haman had caused a great crisis for his whole nation.

Perhaps Mordecai was remorseful for having revealed his nationality and thus having endangered the lives of thousands of his people.

Mordecai tearing his clothes, putting on burlap and ashes, and crying publicly signified that he was in mourning.

²He went as far as the gate of the palace, for no one was allowed to enter the palace gate while wearing clothes of mourning.

We know this was where official business took place. Apparently the king did not want his officials distracted.

³And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

Jews throughout the provinces heard the king’s decree and responded much like Mordecai. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many lay in burlap and ashes. Note: God’s name is not mentioned.

⁴When Queen Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her about Mordecai, she was deeply distressed.

As the queen of Persia, Esther had many luxuries and was waited on by maids and eunuchs.

Esther’s unique position in the haram apparently shut her off from normal lines of communication.

She sent clothing to him to replace the burlap, but he refused it.

Wearing these garments Mordecai could then enter the king’s gate and talk to Esther directly. (See v. 2)

⁵Then Esther sent for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs who had been appointed as her attendant.

She ordered him to go to Mordecai and find out what was troubling him and why he was in mourning.

Apparently Esther was unaware of the king’s edict to have all of the Jews executed.

⁶So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the square in front of the palace gate.

⁷Mordecai 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. ⁸Mordecai gave Hathach a copy of the decree issued in Susa that called for the death of all Jews. He asked Hathach to show it to Esther and explain the situation to her.

The fact that Mordecai possessed this specific knowledge and a copy of the edict further shows his prominent position in Persia.

Esther now knew the details of the King’s edict and how it came about.

Hathach would now know that Esther was a Jew.

He also asked Hathach to direct her to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people. ⁹So Hathach returned to Esther with Mordecai’s message.

Mordecai asked Hathach to direct Esther to go to the king to beg for mercy and plead for her people.

¹⁰Then Esther told Hathach to go back and relay this message to Mordecai: ¹¹“All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.

Esther reminded Mordecai that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter.

And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.”

Esther had not been in the presence of the king for a month.

This does not mean that Esther had fallen from the king’s favor.

¹²So Hathach gave Esther’s message to Mordecai.

¹³Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.

Esther 3:12-13 NLT
¹²… a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. … The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³… giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day.

A decree sealed with the king’s signet ring was irrevocable. (Previous chapter.)

Mordecai planted the idea in Esther’s mind that she would die if she did not act.

If Esther does not exercise her individual responsibility, she and her family will die.

¹⁴If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place,

Mordecai knew God’s promises and realized that God would not allow his chosen people to be annihilated.

Genesis 17:1-8 NLT
^17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. ²I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.”
³At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, ⁴“This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! ⁵What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. ⁶I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them!
⁷“I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. ⁸And I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”

but you and your relatives will die.

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

God’s providential timing.

A hint of Mordechai’s belief in God’s providence.

Esther’s rise to power at this precise time was not just a coincidence. Esther’s position as Xerxes’ favored wife and queen was a role God had given her to influence history for the Jewish people.

The story of Joseph.
Genesis 45:5-7 NLT
⁵But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. ⁶This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.

In Joseph’s story, Joseph knew God was using him to preserve Jacob’s family.

¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶“Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.

Esther was convinced that she needed to act.

No eating or drinking for three days was a serious fast.

No mention of prayer.

An indication of Esther’s faith in God.

Daniel
Daniel 9:3 NLT
³So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.

My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

Esther was willing to die for her people.

It was a serious undertaking to go in to see the king without an invitation.

¹⁷So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Most translations say “ordered” or “commanded”.

Esther and Mordecai are seen as great patriots on behalf of the Jewish nation, but are not presented as righteous people, like others in the Old Testament who fully trusted the Lord.

Law vs. Faith

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Law vs. Faith

Galatians 3:10-14 NLT
¹⁰But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” ¹¹So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” ¹²This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”
¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” ¹⁴Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

Examine the scriptures:
Galatians 3:10-14 NLT
Law vs. Faith

¹⁰But those who depend on the law to make them right with God

Circumcision would be one example of this. Dietary restrictions are other examples.

are under his curse,

People who depend on following the law to make them right are under a curse.

for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”

Quote from:
Deuteronomy 27:26 NLT
²⁶‘Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’
And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

Fact:

“Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”

Name someone who believed that the law made them right with God.

Who believed that he could obey the law without fault?

Paul.

Philippians 3:4-7 NLT
⁴though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
⁵I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. ⁶I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
⁷I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Galatians 1:14 NLT
¹⁴I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

Paul sees things differently now.

¹¹So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law.

James 2:10 NLT
¹⁰For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

Divine acceptance by human effort is totally destroyed by failing to keep any part of the Law.

The Law demands perfection and a curse is attached to failure to keep any part of it.

“Rabbit trail”

But still. The Law is good.

Romans 3:20 NLT
²⁰For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

More about the “Law”.
Romans 7:7-13 NLT
God’s Law Reveals Our Sin
⁷Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” ⁸But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. ⁹At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, ¹⁰and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. ¹¹Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. ¹²But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good. ¹³But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Here Paul is quoting Habakkuk 2:4

Romans 1:17 NLT
¹⁷This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 3:24 NLT
²⁴Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Hebrews 10:38 NLT
³⁸And my righteous ones will live by faith.

Scripture clearly says, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

¹²This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”

The way of faith is very different from the way of law.

Salvation does not come by combining faith with the law.

Faith vs. “Law”

Believing vs. doing.

Leviticus 18:5 NLT
⁵If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

Life under the law comes by obeying (doing) rather than believing.

Romans 10:5 NLT
⁵For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

James 2:10 NLT
¹⁰For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.

¹³But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.

Philippians 3:8-9 NLT (Paul speaking to the Philippians.)
⁸Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ ⁹and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Quote from:
Deuteronomy 21:22-23 NLT
²²“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, ²³the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.

Galatians 4:5 NLT
⁵God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.

Titus 2:14 NLT
¹⁴He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

1 Peter 1:18-20 NLT
¹⁸For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.
¹⁹It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. ²⁰God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT
²¹For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law.

¹⁴Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

When the Gentiles believed in Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14) God gave them the Holy Spirit.

We who are believers receive the Holy Spirit through faith.

Ephesians 1:13-14 NLT
¹³And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

The Law and Faith in Christ

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The Law and Faith in Christ
Galatians 3:1-9 NLT
^3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. ²Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. ³How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? ⁴Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?
⁵I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.
⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” ⁷The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.
⁸What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

Examine the scriptures:
Galatians 3:1-9 NLT
The Law and Faith in Christ

^3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians!

Paul tackled this issue head-on.

Galatians 1:6 NLT
⁶I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News

The Galatians were being misled by the Judaizers, the Jewish false teachers, who were undermining the central New Testament doctrine of justification by faith with their enticing arguments. Paul tackled this issue head-on.

Galatians 2:21 NLT
²¹I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

To embrace a doctrine which declared the death of Christ unnecessary was irrational.

John 3:16 NLT
¹⁶“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
⁸God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Who has cast an evil spell on you?

This is a rhetorical question. Paul knew the answer to this question. (The Judaizers, or in reality, Satan)

The Judaizers, the Jewish false teachers, who were undermining the central New Testament doctrine of justification by faith with their enticing arguments.

For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross.

1 Thessalonians 5:10 NLT
¹⁰Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.

Hebrews 7:25 NLT
²⁵Therefore he (Jesus) is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

Paul’s teaching clearly portrayed Christ’s death and explained its significance.

Romans 10:17 NLT
¹⁷So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

The Galatians had heard and had responded positively to the Gospel.

Now the eyes of the Galatians have been diverted from the cross to the law.

The Galatians were acting foolishly and without excuse.

The Galatians had heard and had responded positively to the Gospel. Now the eyes of the Galatians have been diverted from the cross to the law.

²Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not!

As Gentiles, they did not even have the Mosaic Law.

There is nothing in these verses about “obeying the law”.

You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

The Galatians received the Holy Spirit by faith in Christ, not by obeying the Law of Moses.

³How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

Using human effort to improve on the work of the Holy Spirit is ludicrous.

⁴Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

Experienced so much:

Experiencing all of the blessings of salvation from God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Acts 14:21-22 NLT
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch of Syria
²¹After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, ²²where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.

⁵I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not!

As a Gentile church, they did not even have the Mosaic Law.

It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

God give the Galatians the Holy Spirit and worked miracles among them because they believed the message they heard about Christ.

⁶In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

Even the Old Testament taught justification by faith.

The Old Testament taught justification by faith.

God counted Abraham righteous because of his faith before he was circumcised.

Hebrews 11:8-10 NLT
⁸It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. ⁹And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. ¹⁰Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

⁷The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

Romans 4:11, 16 NLT
¹¹Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.

¹⁶So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

The real children of Abraham are those who put their faith in God.

The children of Abraham are members of God’s family.

⁸What’s more, the Scriptures (God’s Word-God’s plan) looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.”

Justification of uncircumcised Gentles was always a part of God’s plan.

⁹So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

Made right in the sight of God.

Jews and Gentiles.

Haman’s Plot against the Jews

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Haman’s Plot against the Jews

Esther 3:5-15 NLT
⁵When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage. ⁶He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.
⁷So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.
⁸Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. ⁹If 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.”
¹⁰The king agreed, confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”
¹²So 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. ¹³Dispatches 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.
¹⁴A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day. ¹⁵At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

Examine the Scriptures
Esther 3:5-15 NLT

⁵When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage.

This is the picture of an arrogant, power-hungry, selfish, prideful, sinful man.

Some commentaries, not all commentaries, believe this was a hatred that was passed down through generations that existed between the Jews and the Amalekites.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not bow down or show him respect, he was filled with rage.

⁶He had learned of Mordecai’s nationality, so he decided it was not enough to lay hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the entire empire of Xerxes.

Haman wanted to kill all of the Jews living throughout the Persian Empire.

This would include the Jews in Palestine. The Jews in Palestine were faithful to the Lord, worshipping in the rebuilt temple and living according to the law.

Cyrus was a king of Persia who ruled between 539—530 BC. Though he was a pagan king, he was important to Jewish history because during his reign, the Jews were allowed to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity. The Jews had rebuilt temple and were using it as a place of worship.

Palestine was a province of the Persian Empire.

⁷So in the month of April, during the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ reign, lots were cast in Haman’s presence (the lots were called purim) to determine the best day and month to take action. And the day selected was March 7, nearly a year later.

Haman was extremely superstitious (this was true for many Persians) and was allowing fate, by the casting of the lot, to dictate his move against the Jewish nation.

Lots were cast to determine the best day and month for the execution of the Jews to take place.

At this point Esther would have been Queen of Persia for five years.

Even here God was working to protect his chosen people. The Jews would have nearly a year to prepare themselves for this event.

Proverbs 16:33 NLT
³³We may throw the dice, (cast lots)
but the Lord determines how they fall.

We see God was working here to protect his chosen people. The Jews would have nearly a year to prepare themselves for this event.

The Hebrews used lots on occasion to determine God’s will in certain circumstances.

Leviticus 16:8-10 NLT
⁸He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.

Nehemiah 10:34 NLT
³⁴“We have cast sacred lots to determine when—at regular times each year—the families of the priests, Levites, and the common people should bring wood to God’s Temple to be burned on the altar of the Lord our God, as is written in the Law.

⁸Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king.

“A certain race of people”

Haman does not divulge the identity of this certain race of people.

“Who keep themselves separate from everyone else.”

Jews basically resisted integration into secular communities, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Their laws are different.”

Jews had unique dietary restrictions and unique religious customs.

Haman falsely accused all of this certain race of people (the Jews) of refusing to obey the king’s laws.

So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live.

This is a false conclusion.

The Jews keeping themselves separate from everyone else and laws different from those of any other people was no real threat to the Persian Empire.

The Persians generally allowed for other cultural and religious differences.

⁹If 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.”

Haman suggested to the king that he issue a decree that all of this certain race of people (the Jews) would be destroyed.

Haman said that he himself was willing to bear the costs of carrying out this decree.

Haman’s hatred toward the Jews was irrational.

Haman was bribing the king.

An enormous amount, possible 750,000 pounds, worth millions of dollars in our current currency.

This should have made the king suspicious of Haman’s actions.

Haman must have been a man of immense wealth.

¹⁰The king agreed,

Again, King Xerxes was easily influenced by his officials.

The king was being manipulated.

King Xerxes appears to be easily influenced by his officials.

confirming his decision by removing his signet ring from his finger and giving it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.

King Xerxes gave Haman complete control over these official policies.

Five times in the book of Esther, Haman is called “the enemy of the Jews”.

¹¹The king said, “The money and the people are both yours to do with as you see fit.”

Haman is clearly calling all the shots at this point in time.

¹²So 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.

¹³Dispatches 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.

Haman intended to rid the world of God’s covenant people.

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.

This would serve as incentive for the would-be executioners.

Haman provided an incentive for the executioners to kill the Jews.

¹⁴A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all peoples, so that they would be ready to do their duty on the appointed day.

This plan to execute all of the Jews in the Persian Empire was fully endorsed by the King.

¹⁵At the king’s command, the decree went out by swift messengers, and it was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink,

The foolish king and wicked Haman celebrated this occasion.

but the city of Susa fell into confusion.

This extreme and deadly racism, ruthless and unjust behavior, was out of character for the Persian population.

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The King Executes Haman

God’s Heirs through Christ

God’s Children through Faith

The King Honors Mordecai

The Law and God’s Promise

Esther’s Request to the King

Mordecai Requests Esther’s Help

Law vs. Faith

The Law and Faith in Christ

Haman’s Plot against the Jews