We are Sold to be Destroyed Esther 7:4 - Equipped for Battle

While sitting at the second of two banquets given by Queen Esther to King Ahasuerus and Haman, the king asked her what she desired up to half the kingdom. As Esther began her answer to the king's question, she revealed that her life and the lives of her people were in danger of extinction. In chapter seven and verse four we learn more of Esther's request and watch as she acts upon her “moment such as this”. We read:

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

The verse begins, “For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” The perspective of Esther is interesting in this statement, “For we are sold.” As those who have been bought for a price, Esther believes that she and her people have become like cattle in an auction or slaves on a block. Even worse, they are bought “to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.” Their fate was a mortal one in which the purchaser only did so that they might be eliminated. We might recall that Haman offered King Ahasuerus “ten thousand talents of silver” for the losses that might be incurred because of the lack of their labor, and even so, the king himself paid the tariff for the threat of their existence.

The verse goes on to say, “But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue,...” Esther adds to her comments by suggesting that it would have been less difficult if they had been bought simply to be slaves. Her trouble was not as much that they had been bought, but in the purposes for which they were purchased. They were purchased to be killed and not to be used as slaves.

Finally she adds, “although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.” In other words, if Esther and her people would have been banished to be slaves it would not be sufficient enough of a matter to attempt to overcome the king's decision. If this had been the case, the trouble caused by complaining to the king would have been more trouble to him than simply accepting the position of servants.

Let us imagine the king and Haman's faces as Esther is telling the king these words. Basically she is implicating one person as an enemy against her and her people, and since the king loved Esther more than any other maiden that appeared before him, we might imagine his blood beginning to boil. Whenever there is an attack against someone we love we are inclined to position ourselves in protection mode, and whenever we are implicated for doing wrong, we also cling to safety. King Ahasuerus is wondering who is doing this to his bride and her people, and Haman knows that he is the man. As we remember that God Almighty is acting behind the scenes, we know there is more of this story to come, but we shall wait until next time to have more of it revealed.

Next time we will watch as the king ask who did this, 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