Human Evil And Divine Justice

Human Evil and Divine Justice (Esther 7:1-10)
Just as Caiaphas, an enemy of Jesus, prophesied truth without even knowing it, Haman’s friends spoke truth when they said, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” (Esther 6:13). This is how Chapter 6 ended.
Esther 7:1-2
Now the king was asking her the third time, when even second chances in life are often rare. But Esther needed courage to face Ahasuerus who could be unstable. Esther had a dangerous and delicate task before her. She had to tell him that his handpicked Prime Minister was rotten to the core. She has to accuse Haman without incriminating the king who had put his seal on Haman’s murderous decree against the Jews. She in effect would be telling the king to reverse the decree that he had signed, that too a decree that stood to benefit the royal treasury. This was going to be a great
a great embarrassment for the king. And she has to tell the king about her Jewishness, which she had kept hidden.
Esther 7:3-7
Esther chose her words carefully when she answered the king. Her reply was structured to be parallel to his question. “Grant me my life—this is my wish and spare my people—this is my request.” The king was probably shocked to hear her say, “Grant me my life.” Esther went on to give him the reason for her petition—that she and her people had been sold to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. It would be difficult for the king to grant her request, because the laws of the Medes and Persians could not be altered. So, it was extremely important that Esther make it clear to the king that nothing but absolute necessity had induced her to give him so much trouble. The terms destroy, kill and annihilate are the exact words in Haman’s edict (3:13) but Esther does not mention the name of Haman nor the fact that it was the king himself who sold her people for ten thousand talents of silver. Esther used a tactic similar to what Nathan the prophet used when confronting David regarding his sin. Esther pointed the king’s anger at a nameless perpetrator and when his anger was aroused, she unveiled Haman, the target for his anger, saying “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Esther delivered the knockout punch. It is probable that at this point, the king made the connection between the decree he had recently signed and Esther’s plight. Esther’s words were an eye-opener for Haman too. Only then did he realize that Esther was a Jew. Haman was terrified. The author wants his readers to know that Haman who condemned the Jews to death, cringes in fear not only before the king, but also before the Queen of Persia, a Jewess, who he had inadvertently conspired to kill.
Esther 7:8-10
The angry king went from the banquet room into the garden. He was likely most troubled by what this would all mean for his own reputation. He had been fooled into giving his consent to a wicked decree, and he would not be able to punish Haman without admitting his own role in the fiasco. Moreover, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be revoked. Haman stayed behind with Esther, knowing that Esther was his only chance, and he would beg her to intercede with the king for his life. As per Near-Eastern harem laws, he should have left the Queen when the king left the room. As he approached the queen, he fell on her couch. The king “just happened” to return to the room as Haman was falling. Haman had sealed his own fate! We have seen many coincidences in the story of Esther. Can so many coincidences be accidental. Like a subtle signpost, these coincidences point to an invisible hand at work, orchestrating every event to accomplish His purposes. Haman’s falling gave the king precisely the excuse he needed to eliminate Haman without making any reference to the edict. By saying, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” the king made the fall an attempted assault and reason enough to condemn Haman to death. Harbona the eunuch informed the king about the 50-cubits-high gallows that Haman had built for Mordecai the Jew who had saved the king’s life. This piece of unsolicited information led the king to say, “Hang him.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows he himself had built twenty-four hours earlier to execute Mordecai.
Conclusion
Human evil, wherever it occurs and for whatever motivation, always sets itself against God, because God is the definition of goodness and righteousness. Divine justice inevitably means the destruction of evil. While Haman was constructing a gallows of colossal size, thinking it was for Mordecai, it turned out to be his own. Haman boasted to his friends of being honoured by being invited alone to the queen’s banquet, not realizing the truth that it was an invitation to his own execution. On the final judgment day when the truth is revealed, the condemned will finally realize that they have no one to blame but themselves. Be careful. Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. The Lord GOD, does not want anyone to perish. He is patient. He wants all to come to repentance. When Jesus invited people to follow Him, they offered excuses—all about being busy with the cares of this world. One said ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.
The Lord’s answer to them and to those who are sitting here is that we should not let excuses deprive us of the most important thing in life: the salvation of our souls. Don’t put it off. Now is the “acceptable time”, and this very day is the “day of salvation”. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.