A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

that had been thwarted. When he heard the servant read how Mordecai had uncovered the plot
against his life, he asked what kind of reward Mordecai had received. As the servant
acknowledged Mordecai had not been rewarded, the king heard a commotion in an outer room
(6:1-5).
Haman arrived to make a special request. He wanted to suggest the king hang Mordecai
on the gallows he had prepared. But before he could make his request, the king asked Haman for
his advice concerning how the king could honor a particular man he, the king, wanted to honor.
Thinking the king was talking about him, Haman suggested parading the man through the streets
of the city in a royal robe with royal honors. The king liked the idea and ordered Haman to do it
for Mordecai (vv. 6-10).
By the time Haman had completed that assignment, he did not want to be seen in public.
When he told his wife and advisors what had happened, they warned him he would fall before
Mordecai since the man was a Jew. Even as they discussed the matter, men from the palace
arrived to take Haman to his private dinner with the king and queen (v. 14).
Over dinner, the king again asked Esther to make her request. She did so, asking that the
king act to preserve her people the Jews from the planned annihilation. When the king asked who
would even presume to take such a course of action, Esther responded, “The adversary and
enemy is this wicked Haman!” (7:6)
The king rose from the table in anger and stepped out into the garden, apparently to cool
down. Haman, terrified of the king’s wrath, began pleading for his life. As the king stepped back
into the room, Haman fell across the couch where Esther was. The king interpreted what he saw
as an attempted assault on Esther by Haman. Then one of the king’s servants noted the presence
of the gallows Haman had built to hang the man who had saved the king’s life. “So they hanged
Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai” (v. 10).
The death of Haman did not insure the security of the Jews. The king was prepared to
take action. Mordecai was given Haman’s position in the kingdom and Esther was encouraged to
write another decree in the king’s name. The previous decree could not be rescinded, but the
second decree called on the Jews to join together to protect their lives and property, and to take
the lives and property of those who attacked them. When the day came for the two decrees to be
enforced, over 75,000 enemies of the Jews fell. Following the victory, the Jews in Shushan
gathered together to celebrate. The Jews still celebrate that victory today in their annual Feast of
Purim.
PERSPECTIVE
The Book of Esther does not include the name of God or Jehovah. One reason was
because the book was written to the Jews who remained in the Dispersion and did not return to
the Holy Land. They had to learn to live where the name of Elohim and Jehovah were not
mentioned. Yet the Jews of the Dispersion, like those in the Book of Esther, were influenced in
several ways by God. The Jews were reminded of their Hebrew heritage, their awareness of
Jehovah’s presence in their lives and specifically, the constant threat of anti-Semitism among the
Gentiles. God had promised Abraham there would be those who would persecute his seed, but
they would be punished (Gen. 12:3).
Jewish tradition, specifically in the Talmud, asks, “Where do we get the Law in Esther?”
They answer Deuteronomy 31:18, “And I will surely hide My face.” Because of their sins, God
hides His face from the Jews. The two contemporary Books of Ezra and Nehemiah used the
divine title “the God of heaven.” But in Esther the Median king is mentioned 192 times.