King Ahasuerus and Haman
were attending the second banquet held by Queen Esther when the king
requested that she ask him for whatever she desired up to half the
kingdom. As she gave her answer, she began to plead for her life and
her people's lives as they had been destined to be exterminated. As
our story continues we have been waiting for the moment which
occurred in chapter seven and verse six for quite a while where
Esther tell the king who masterminded this evil plan. We read:
And Esther said, The
adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman
was afraid before the king and the queen.
The
verse begins, “And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is
this wicked Haman.” Can we imagine the faces of both Esther and
the king when she said this? Haman thought he was being invited to
the queen's banquet because he was a special guest, and in reality,
he was being led like a sheep to the slaughter. He was named both
“adversary” which means “foe or oppressor” and “enemy”
which means “blowing, puffing, and hatred against”. She also
indited him as “wicked” which means “bad, evil, disagreeable
and malignant.” In other words, Haman was named to be as horrible
as he could be before the king, and there was no holding back on
Esther's part.
The
verse continues, “Then Haman was afraid before the king and the
queen.” Now can we imagine Haman's face when the queen said
this? Let's think about it for a moment. Haman was rushed to this
second feast, and he was probably well into the delicacies set before
him when the dialog between the king and queen occurred. As the king
asked for her request, perhaps Haman wondered with interest as she
began her answer. Then his face began to droop as she appealed for
her life and the life of her people, and when the king asked who the
perpetrator was, she turned to Haman and said “him”! Immediately
Haman's face turned from wonder, drooping, to wide-eyed fear. Not
only was he afraid of the queen, but he was of the king as well. He
knew the power within the throne, and now rather than be so boastful
about his position, he feared for his life because of it.
It is
obvious to see the turn of events in this story as it appeared for a
while that Haman held the upper hand. What Haman failed to realize
was that God had a plan and He was going to work it out. No one would
stop God from fulfilling His idea for a messiah to be born, and the
extermination of the Jews would have prevented that from occurring.
When we ponder this for a while we might profit from inserting our
own lives into each person's role in this story to make it more real
to us, however, we should also keep in mind that God Almighty has a
purpose and plan for our lives as well. Sometimes His presence is not
as evident as others, but He still remains involved behind the
scenes. The fulfillment of Esther's part in this story was backed by
her family and associates praying and fasting for “such a time
as this”, and when we consider the overall plan of God, Esther
completed her role. The question for us is, “will we complete
ours?”
Next
time we will observe the king's reaction to Esther's revelation, so
read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment