Women with a Story to Tell. Esther.13. What does a Reversal of Fortunes have to do with God's Plan of Salvation?

 The cat is out of the bag. What was hidden has seen the light of day. The king flushes so hot with anger that he goes outside into the garden to cool down a bit. Now he has a real problem; his chief advisor may implicate him in a personal plot to endanger a certain group of people. Further, it turns out that Queen Esther is a member of that group. What can he do?

 ” The king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that the king had determined to destroy him. When the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman had thrown himself on the couch where Esther was reclining, and the king said, “Will he even violate the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Look, the very pole that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hung Haman on the pole that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. (Esther 7: 7-10). 

 Haman is desperate, so much so that he forgets himself and pleads with the queen face to face while she is lying on her couch (the usual posture for attending a banquet, even into Jesus’ time). The king returns, and misinterprets the scene. The result, however, is that, if he had any doubts, they were washed away in a minute. The eunuchs guarding the king and queen read the room and do not hesitate to whisk Haman away. No confession and no naming names.

 One guard, Harbona, stays behind and informs the king that Haman had prepared a gallows for Mordecai, large and visible to all at 75 feet. The king gets the point and orders the execution of Haman on the gallows that Haman himself prepared. 

 This is reminiscent of Psalm 21; a partial quote follows.

“Your hand will find out all your enemies;   

your right hand will find out those who hate you. …

If they plan evil against you,   

if they devise mischief, 

they will not succeed.

For you will put them to flight;   

you will aim at their faces with your bows.

Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!   

We will sing and praise your power” (Psalm 21: 8, 11-12).

 The threat has been removed. As is often the case with God, there has been a reversal of fortunes. Haman is executed on the same gallows that he built for Mordecai. Haman’s estate is given to Queen Esther, including all Haman’s family as laborers on the estate. Then Esther places Mordecai in charge of the estate. (Read the virgin Mary’s Magnificat to understand how prominent a reversal of fortunes is in God’s great plan of salvation; Luke 1:46-55). 

 Yet, a problem remains. There is still an executive order permitting all other people to kill the Jews and confiscate their property on a future day that is drawing near. Queen Esther returns to the king. 

 ”Then Esther spoke again to the king; she fell at his feet, weeping and pleading with him to avert the evil design of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. The king held out the golden scepter to Esther, and Esther rose and stood before the king. She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I have won his favor, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I have his approval, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote giving orders to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming on my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” (Esther 8: 3-6). 

 The king reminds Esther that “an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked” (Esther 8: 8). But he seems to have no idea what to do about it. Now what? The team of Esther and Mordecai, enhanced by Mordecai’s ties within the administration, brainstorm and they come up with a plan. They have fasted and prayed, they have identified the problem, they have removed the person responsible, and now they have to blunt the bad effects of a corrupt administration. How can that be done? Is God behind this or not?