ESTHER LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in Esther 7:1 "So the king and Haman
came to banquet with Esther the queen."

     This was speaking of the second banquet. We saw in the last
lesson, the humiliation of this self-centered Haman. He still was not
aware that Esther was a Jew. The king had granted the queen both
requests to come to her banquet, but he knew that was not really her
request of him. He had already offered her half of the kingdom, if
that was what she desired.

     Esther 7:2 "And the king said again unto Esther on the second day
at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition, queen Esther? and it
shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? and it shall be
performed, [even] to the half of the kingdom."

     The king offered, again, to grant Esther's request. He loved her
and he wanted her to be happy.

     Esther 7:3 "Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have
found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my
life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:"

     This had to be a shock to the king, that anyone would threaten
the life of his queen. He did not know that Esther was Hebrew. She had
never told him, and he had never asked, up until now. She first asked
him to save her life, and then she asked for the lives of her people.

     Esther 7:4 "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 king, possibly, still had no idea of what she was speaking.
He did not write the edict to kill all of the Jews. Haman had written
the edict, and sealed it with the king's signet ring. She actually
believed the king had sold their lives to the wicked Haman.  She said
she would have understood, if he had people to take their place, but
she did not understand the destruction with nothing to gain. She
thought that Haman was going to pay the king for the Jews that were
killed. She was saying he would not have near enough money to pay for
the lives.  "Countervail", in this instance, means equalize.  The king
would lose far more than Haman could pay.

     Esther 7:5  "Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto
Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in
his heart to do so?"

     The king was still not aware that this was connected with the
edict. He asked Esther who would dare to kill the queen?

     Esther 7:6 "And Esther said, The adversary and enemy [is] this
wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen."

     The king had not even suspicioned Haman. Haman suddenly
remembered what the wise men had told him would happen to him. Esther
called Haman an adversary of the king.

     Esther 7:7  "And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his
wrath [went] into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make
request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was
evil determined against him by the king."

     The king was not quick to kill someone. He walked into the
garden, possibly, to try to sort out this whole thing. He really
wanted to kill Haman for trying to kill Esther. Haman caught him gone
to the garden and began to plead for his life to be spared. He
realized the king would kill him, if Esther did not stop him.

     Esther 7:8 "Then the king returned out of the palace garden into
the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed
whereon Esther [was]. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also
before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they
covered Haman's face."

     The couches for reclining were in the banqueting room, and it
appeared that Esther had been reclining on one of them. Haman was so
desperate for Esther to ask the king to spare his life, that he fell
upon the bed face down where Esther was. The king walked back into the
room and was furious with Haman. He accused Haman of trying to rape
Esther in his presence. It appears, the attendants grabbed Haman and
covered his head to take him to execute him.

     Esther 7:9 "And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before
the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had
made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the
house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon."

     The very gallows that Haman had built to kill Mordecai on, would
be where he would hang. Haman had sown the wind, and would now reap
the whirlwind. Harbonah reminded the king that Mordecai had saved his
life, and this Haman had wanted to kill him. The prophecy of the wise
men had come true.

     Esther 7:10 "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified."

     Haman's life had been wicked. He lived by violence, and he died
by violence. He had wanted to be a famous man, and died as an infamous
man. Haman died on the gallows he built for Mordecai. The king's wrath
subsided after Haman had paid for his crime with his life. This really
did not save Esther's life or the Jews, however. The edict still
stood.  We will see in the next lesson what was done about that.



                          Esther 7 Questions


1.  Who came to banquet with Esther the queen?
2.  In the last lesson, we saw the __________ of this wicked Haman.
3.  He still was not aware that Esther was a _______.
4.  What question did the king ask Esther at this banquet?
5.  What did he offer to give her?
6.  What did she say that was a shock to the king?
7.  What did she say had been done to them, that she believed the king
    had done.
8.  Why did the king have no idea what she was speaking of?
9.  What does "countervail" mean here?
10. What questions did Ahasuerus ask Esther in verse 5?
11. What did she call Haman in verse 6?
12. How did this affect Haman?
13. Why did the king walk into the garden?
14. Who did Haman ask to save him?
15. Haman realized what about the king?
16. When the king returned from the garden, where was Haman?
17. What did the king say to him?
18. What was the bed really?
19. What was meant by them covering Haman's head?
20. Who reminded the king that the gallows for Haman were already
    ready?
21. When was the king's wrath pacified?