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Esther 7 - Evil Haman Meets His End · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello there, faithful listeners. Welcome to the Bible
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  Speaker 1: Explained podcast on this lovely Monday morning. I hope that
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  Speaker 1: you guys had a fantastic weekend. I had a really
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  Speaker 1: interesting weekend, actually. On Friday, I was down in my
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  Speaker 1: basement because there was a tornado. It never touched down, thankfully,
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  Speaker 1: but it was just like spinning in the sky, I guess,
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  Speaker 1: and there was a lot of rotation in the sky,
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  Speaker 1: but Thankfully, it never touched down in my area, which
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  Speaker 1: is a good thing for me because I live in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of trees. And whenever there's a big windstorm,
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  Speaker 1: we always lose a tree somewhere on our property. And
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  Speaker 1: I am very scared that one of these days we're
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  Speaker 1: going to lose a tree closer to the house and
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  Speaker 1: it might fall on the house. That is a scary
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  Speaker 1: thought for me, especially considering the fact that we just
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  Speaker 1: got a new roof put on. That would be like
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  Speaker 1: the last thing I would want to happen is like,
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  Speaker 1: a tree come through my brand new roof. But anyway,
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  Speaker 1: faithful listeners, hopefully you had a less eventful weekend than
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  Speaker 1: I did. But let's go ahead and get started with
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  Speaker 1: today's episode. I am very excited to talk about Esther
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  Speaker 1: chapter seven, because we're moving into kind of the climax
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  Speaker 1: of the story here. What is going to happen to
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  Speaker 1: this evil Haman who hates the Jewish people so much
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  Speaker 1: that he is going to commit a mass genocide against them?
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  Speaker 1: We are going to see what's going to happen to
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  Speaker 1: him in today's episode. But before we dive into this,
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  Speaker 1: All right, faithful listeners, hopefully while that advertisement played, you
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  Speaker 1: got a chance to grab your delicious cup of coffee
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  Speaker 1: and also your Bible out of the version that you prefer.
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  Speaker 1: But I'll be reading this morning from the WEB as usual.
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  Speaker 1: This is Esther chapter seven. I'll be reading the entire thing.
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  Speaker 1: So let's give reverence to God's word together. So the
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  Speaker 1: king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.
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  Speaker 1: The king said again to Esther on the second day
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  Speaker 1: at the banquet of wine, What is your petition, Queen Esther?
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  Speaker 1: It shall be granted to you. What is your request?
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  Speaker 1: Even to half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
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  Speaker 1: Then Esther the queen answered, If I have found favor
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  Speaker 1: in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king,
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  Speaker 1: let my life be given to me at my petition
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  Speaker 1: and my people at my request. For we are sold,
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  Speaker 1: I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain,
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  Speaker 1: and to perish. But if we had been sold for
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  Speaker 1: male and female slaves, I would have held my peace,
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  Speaker 1: although the adversary could not have compensated for the king's loss.
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  Speaker 1: Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, Who is
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  Speaker 1: he and where is he who dared presume in his
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  Speaker 1: heart to do so? Esther said, An adversary and an enemy,
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  Speaker 1: even this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the
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  Speaker 1: king and the queen. The king arose in his wrath
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  Speaker 1: from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden.
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  Speaker 1: Haman stood up to make a request for his life
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  Speaker 1: to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was
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  Speaker 1: evil determined against him by the king. Then the king
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  Speaker 1: returned out of the palace garden into the place of
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  Speaker 1: the banquet of wine, and Haman had fallen on the
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  Speaker 1: couch where Esther was. Then the king said, Will he
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  Speaker 1: even assault the queen in front of me in the house?
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  Speaker 1: And as the word went out of the king's mouth,
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  Speaker 1: they covered Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs
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  Speaker 1: who was with the king, said, Behold, A gallows fifty
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  Speaker 1: cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke
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  Speaker 1: good for the king, is standing at Haman's house. The
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  Speaker 1: king said, Hang him on it. So they hanged Haman
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  Speaker 1: on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then
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  Speaker 1: the king's wrath was pacified. So last we left off,
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  Speaker 1: Queen Esther had prepared a banquet for King Xerxes and
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  Speaker 1: also for Haman. And the reason she prepared this banquet
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  Speaker 1: was so she could plead for her life. because nobody
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  Speaker 1: knew that she was a Jewish woman. She hid her
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  Speaker 1: identity very well, and not even King Xerxes, her husband,
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  Speaker 1: knew her identity. And so that means that Haman also
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  Speaker 1: did not know that she was a Jewish woman. So
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  Speaker 1: Haman was all excited because he was invited to these
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  Speaker 1: banquets that Esther had put on. But of course, Esther
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  Speaker 1: was putting these banquets on specifically for Haman's downfall. But
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  Speaker 1: Haman didn't know that at the time. He just thought
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  Speaker 1: that he was on the inns with the queen and king.
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  Speaker 1: And he just thought that he was the biggest man
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  Speaker 1: in Persia, essentially. So he went home after the first
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  Speaker 1: feast that he had with Queen Esther and King Xerxes.
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  Speaker 1: super boastful and really proud. And he invited all of
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  Speaker 1: his family members and friends and his wife to his
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  Speaker 1: home so that he could pontificate about how wonderful he
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  Speaker 1: was for many hours. But then at the end, he's like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the one thing that's just throwing all of
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  Speaker 1: this off for me is that Mordecai guy. I absolutely
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  Speaker 1: hate him. I hate that Jewish man. And so his
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  Speaker 1: wife and his friends are like, well, you know what?
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  Speaker 1: Don't let that ruin your good time with the king
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  Speaker 1: and queen. Just prepare a giant gallows to hang him on,
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  Speaker 1: a 75 foot tall gallows to be specific. And Haman
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  Speaker 1: thought that was a great idea. So the next morning,
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  Speaker 1: Haman went to King Xerxes to ask if Mordecai could
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  Speaker 1: be hung on those gallows. But unfortunately, it did not
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  Speaker 1: work out because the king realized that he owed Mordecai
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  Speaker 1: a big favor because Mordecai had actually saved the king's
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  Speaker 1: life many months prior to this entire drama that was
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  Speaker 1: taking place. So the king actually tasked Haman with the
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  Speaker 1: job of honoring Mordecai. And this was mortifying to Haman,
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  Speaker 1: no pun intended. So he went home with his head
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  Speaker 1: covered and, you know, just crying about it to his
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  Speaker 1: wife and his friends. But then later on realized he
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  Speaker 1: had another banquet he had to attend. And so he
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  Speaker 1: was forced to go because the king's eunuchs came and
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  Speaker 1: got him, even though he probably did not want to
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  Speaker 1: attend because he had been completely humiliated all that day.
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  Speaker 1: But now he is at the next banquet that Queen
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  Speaker 1: Esther had prepared. So that is where we leave off today.
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  Speaker 1: It says, so the king and Haman came to the
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  Speaker 1: banquet with Esther, the queen. And the king said to
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  Speaker 1: Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine,
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  Speaker 1: what is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted
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  Speaker 1: to you. What is your request? Even to half of
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  Speaker 1: the kingdom, it shall be performed. So I'm sure at
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  Speaker 1: this point in time, King Xerxes is probably like, what
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  Speaker 1: the heck does Queen Esther want? She's not telling me.
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  Speaker 1: I don't understand why she's being so secretive. And possibly
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  Speaker 1: one of the reasons why the king had you know,
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  Speaker 1: been up all night that same day, you know, unable
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  Speaker 1: to sleep, is because he might have been questioning what
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  Speaker 1: Queen Esther could have wanted. So much so that she
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  Speaker 1: was willing to risk her life to actually see him,
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  Speaker 1: which we talked about that on a previous episode. But yeah,
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  Speaker 1: she was willing to risk her own life and The
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  Speaker 1: king was like, what the heck does she want? Why
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  Speaker 1: isn't she telling me what she's asking for? So it says, again,
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  Speaker 1: the king asks her at the banquet of wine. Now
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  Speaker 1: the banquet of wine would have been after the meal.
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  Speaker 1: So this means that the whole meal went off without
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  Speaker 1: a hitch. And now the wine was being served. Essentially,
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  Speaker 1: the banquet was coming to a close. So finally, he says, Esther,
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  Speaker 1: enough of the secrecy. Tell me what's going on. Whatever
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  Speaker 1: you want, even up to half of my kingdom, I
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  Speaker 1: will give it to you. Now, I talked about that
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  Speaker 1: phraseology before, the half of the kingdom thing. It's very
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  Speaker 1: possible that that was not a true statement, that the
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  Speaker 1: king was not actually willing to give her up to
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  Speaker 1: half the kingdom, because that's not the first time that
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  Speaker 1: we've seen kings actually say that same statement. It could
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  Speaker 1: have just been showing respect to the person who was,
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  Speaker 1: you know, asking for the help. And the king didn't
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  Speaker 1: really expect them to say like, yeah, give me half
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  Speaker 1: of your kingdom. And they probably would have gotten trouble.
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  Speaker 1: had they actually said, yes, I want half of your kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: So finally, Queen Esther opens up in verse three. If
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  Speaker 1: I have found favor in your sight, O king, and
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  Speaker 1: if it pleases the king, let my life be given
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  Speaker 1: to me at my petition and my people at my request.
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  Speaker 1: So that language right there shows how dangerous King Xerxes
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  Speaker 1: really was. Because Queen Esther can't just come out and
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  Speaker 1: be like, hey, husband, can you please save my life?
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  Speaker 1: She has to be like, King, if I have found
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  Speaker 1: favor in your sight, if for some reason you look
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  Speaker 1: favorably upon me, then please let my life be spared. Like,
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  Speaker 1: look at how she is talking to King Xerxes. There
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  Speaker 1: is so much honor and respect on her part, knowing
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  Speaker 1: that King Xerxes can really do whatever he wants to do,
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  Speaker 1: can kill people without a moment's notice, as we're about
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  Speaker 1: to see. And as we've seen before, he is a
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  Speaker 1: hot-tempered man. Queen Esther does not feel any safety with
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  Speaker 1: this guy, regardless of whatever romance novels and romance movies
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  Speaker 1: have tried to twist this story to make it like,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the king and the queen had such a
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  Speaker 1: wonderful romantic relationship. Absolutely not. Queen Esther can't even come
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  Speaker 1: right out and ask her husband to spare her life.
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  Speaker 1: So she says, Let my life be given to me
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  Speaker 1: at my petition and my people at my request. For
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  Speaker 1: we are sold, I and my people to be destroyed,
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  Speaker 1: to be slain and to perish. But if we had
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  Speaker 1: been sold for male and female slaves, I would have
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  Speaker 1: held my peace. Although the adversary could not have compensated
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  Speaker 1: for the king's loss. So she's like, king, my people
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  Speaker 1: and myself are being sold to death. Like we are
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  Speaker 1: going to be killed off, genocided in a matter of months.
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  Speaker 1: If you don't do something to help us. And she
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  Speaker 1: even says this little thing at the end to like
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  Speaker 1: kind of soften the blow. She's like, King, I wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: have even asked for your help had my people been
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  Speaker 1: sold as slaves. That would have been an immeasurable loss
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  Speaker 1: to you. But I would have held my peace even
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  Speaker 1: for that. But this is big enough that I must
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  Speaker 1: ask you to fight for me on my behalf. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: no romance happening here. Then King Ahasuerus says to Esther
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  Speaker 1: the queen, who is he and where is he who
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  Speaker 1: dared presume in his heart to do so? So the
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  Speaker 1: king doesn't even get it. He still is not figuring
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  Speaker 1: out that she is a Jewish woman. He still has
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  Speaker 1: not put two and two together. He doesn't realize that
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  Speaker 1: it's Haman sitting right there next to him. And Haman,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, probably doesn't realize it yet either. Both
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  Speaker 1: these men are probably staring at Queen Esther like, what
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  Speaker 1: the heck is happening here? Like, what people does she
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  Speaker 1: belong to that are being killed off? Is this some
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  Speaker 1: sort of foreign nation that's doing this? Like, what's going
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  Speaker 1: on here? And I bet you they're really not thinking
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  Speaker 1: that they are the actual culprits of all of this.
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  Speaker 1: But then here's what Queen Esther says in verse 6.
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  Speaker 1: An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman. So
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  Speaker 1: I imagine her pointing at Haman and being like, this
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  Speaker 1: is the guy who is going to kill me and
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  Speaker 1: all of my people. And at that point, of course,
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  Speaker 1: it clicks. Even Haman was terrified. He figures out, oh boy,
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  Speaker 1: the queen is a Jewish woman. Then Haman was afraid
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  Speaker 1: before the king and the queen. And the king figures
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  Speaker 1: it out too. She never actually told him that she
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  Speaker 1: was a Jew, by the way. Just through the context,
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  Speaker 1: he has now been able to figure it out. that
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish people are the ones being killed off. Now,
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  Speaker 1: it could be, it could be that King Xerxes didn't
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  Speaker 1: even know that Haman was targeting the Jews. Because don't forget,
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  Speaker 1: when Haman first gone to the king, and he was like,
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  Speaker 1: there's a people group in your kingdom, O king, that
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  Speaker 1: is just terrible, and they don't follow your laws, and
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  Speaker 1: they have their own laws, and they're just a wicked
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  Speaker 1: group of people, and we should just kill them all off.
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  Speaker 1: He never did say what group of people he was
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  Speaker 1: talking about. And it could be that the king, because
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  Speaker 1: of stupidity is the best way I can describe it,
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  Speaker 1: just trusted Haman completely and just was like, oh, yeah, Haman,
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  Speaker 1: if you think that a people group should be killed off,
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  Speaker 1: I don't care who they are. Just go ahead and
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  Speaker 1: do it. I trust you. And he didn't even realize
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  Speaker 1: that it was the Jewish people. Even to this moment,
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  Speaker 1: it could be that Xerxes did not know what people
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  Speaker 1: group Haman was trying to target. It very well could be.
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  Speaker 1: So still to this moment in time, Xerxes does not
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  Speaker 1: know the lineage of Queen Esther. He just knows that Haman,
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  Speaker 1: a month prior to all of this, had told him
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  Speaker 1: there was a people group that he didn't like and
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  Speaker 1: should be killed off. And now Esther is part of
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  Speaker 1: that people group. Now, it could also be that Xerxes
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  Speaker 1: did find out later on that Haman was targeting the
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  Speaker 1: Jewish people. But don't forget what happened earlier this very day.
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  Speaker 1: The king realized that Mordecai, a Jew, had saved his life.
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  Speaker 1: So it could be that King Xerxes came to this
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  Speaker 1: banquet already slightly peeved at Haman, Because Haman had told him,
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  Speaker 1: had fabricated this story that the Jewish people were absolutely terrible.
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  Speaker 1: And now the king is finding out, both with Mordecai
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  Speaker 1: earlier that day and Esther now, that the Jewish people
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  Speaker 1: really aren't that bad and that he made a serious
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  Speaker 1: mistake in trusting Haman so completely. That Haman was able
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  Speaker 1: to make a law using the king's name. Because when
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  Speaker 1: the king made a law, don't forget, that law in
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  Speaker 1: Persian culture was binding. Not even the king himself could
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  Speaker 1: go back on that law. So if the king said,
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  Speaker 1: on this day, this people group will die, that would happen.
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  Speaker 1: Even if the king changed his mind later on, there
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  Speaker 1: would have to be something else put in place in
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  Speaker 1: order to protect those people if the king changed his mind.
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  Speaker 1: So the king is now figuring out that Haman was
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  Speaker 1: not what he seemed to be, that Haman was a
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  Speaker 1: nasty guy, and that maybe Jews are not as bad
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  Speaker 1: as everybody initially thought. So the king is furious about
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  Speaker 1: all of this, possibly because he knew that he was
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  Speaker 1: part of the problem. So he goes and walks in
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  Speaker 1: the garden to kind of cool off. And meanwhile, Haman
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  Speaker 1: realizes that the king has it out for him. That's
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  Speaker 1: what it says right here in verse seven. Haman stood
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  Speaker 1: up to make requests for his life to Esther the queen,
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  Speaker 1: for he saw that there was evil determined against him
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  Speaker 1: by the king. So he figured out that no matter
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  Speaker 1: what the situation was, even if the king didn't kill him,
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  Speaker 1: nothing good was about to happen to him. He could
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  Speaker 1: have been exiled. He could have had everything taken from him,
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  Speaker 1: his wives, his friends, his home, everything. We don't know.
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  Speaker 1: Haman was terrified. So he stays behind to beg Esther
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  Speaker 1: for mercy. So he doesn't follow the king out into
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  Speaker 1: the garden to beg him. He begs Queen Esther. And this,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure, was very uncomfortable for Esther. You know, being
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  Speaker 1: in the same room with this serial killer maniac who
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  Speaker 1: wanted to kill her and her cousin Mordecai and all
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  Speaker 1: of her people. You know, I'm sure she's like, no,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not going to spare your life. I'm not even
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  Speaker 1: going to ask. to spare your life. I wouldn't. What
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  Speaker 1: woman would do that? If a man was trying to
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  Speaker 1: kill you outright and your entire family, and not just
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  Speaker 1: your entire family, but your entire heritage, like your nationality
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  Speaker 1: and everybody that belongs to that nationality, and he had
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  Speaker 1: the ability to do so, would you have mercy on
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  Speaker 1: this guy? Probably not, especially a woman back in this
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  Speaker 1: day and age who had very little power to begin
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  Speaker 1: with that she has to beg the king, her own husband,
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  Speaker 1: for her life. So the king returns in verse eight
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  Speaker 1: out of the palace garden into the place of the
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  Speaker 1: banquet of wine. And Haman had fallen on the couch
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  Speaker 1: where Esther was. So Esther was either lying or sitting
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  Speaker 1: on this couch because that's how Persian culture did things
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  Speaker 1: back in these days. They'd have these fancy couches that
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  Speaker 1: they'd eat from made of solid gold or silver or
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  Speaker 1: something like that. And they were cushioned really nice with
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  Speaker 1: all of these beautiful materials. And Haman, in begging for
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  Speaker 1: his life at the worst possible moment for himself, falls
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  Speaker 1: down onto Queen Esther to beg her. So now this
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  Speaker 1: creepy man is on top of Esther right as the
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  Speaker 1: king enters back into the banquet hall. And the king
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  Speaker 1: is furious, obviously, because I'm sure Esther was trying to
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  Speaker 1: get away from this guy. I'm sure she was not
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  Speaker 1: just allowing him to lie all over her. I'm sure
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  Speaker 1: she was pushing him away, doing something because that's what
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  Speaker 1: I would have been doing had some creepy guy fallen
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  Speaker 1: onto the couch that I was lying on or sitting on.
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  Speaker 1: And the king sees this and here's what he does.
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  Speaker 1: Now that was a traditional thing to do before somebody
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  Speaker 1: was to be sentenced to death, was their face would
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  Speaker 1: be covered before they were killed. So Harbona, in verse 9,
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  Speaker 1: one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, Behold,
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  Speaker 1: the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai,
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  Speaker 1: who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman's house. Now,
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  Speaker 1: here is probably how Herbona found out about this, because
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  Speaker 1: he was one of the eunuchs. And don't forget, earlier
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  Speaker 1: that day, when Haman had covered his face in shame
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  Speaker 1: and ran home after he had to, you know, honor Mordecai,
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  Speaker 1: the eunuchs had to come get him for Queen Esther's banquet.
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  Speaker 1: He did not just willingly go, probably because he was
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  Speaker 1: He didn't want to, honestly, because of the humiliation he
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  Speaker 1: had experienced that same day. So the eunuchs had to
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  Speaker 1: come get him. And they probably saw this 75 foot
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: tall gallows in his backyard. And they were like, what
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: the heck is that? And they probably asked some questions
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: and found out that Haman hated Mordecai and was going
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: to try to kill Mordecai on those gallows. So now Harbona,
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: who was one of the eunuchs, either saw those gallows
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: himself or heard about them from another eunuch. And he
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: told the king, hey, king, there's this gallows, this really
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: tall gallows that Haman set up for Mordecai, that guy
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: earlier today that spoke such good of you and saved
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: your life. And Haman wanted to hang him on those
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: very gallows. So the king says, hang Haman on it.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath was pacified. So
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: now that is the end of Haman. And by the way,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: those gallows probably were more so like a way to
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: shame the person who had died, like to shame their body.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: And that was the reason they were so tall was
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: just to like cause a shame to that person. That's
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: now how Haman ends up dying, probably by being impaled
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: with something and then being hung on those gallows, because
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: that was common in Persian culture to have death through impalement.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: But unfortunately, even though Haman is gone and he is
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: no longer part of the problem, there's still the issue
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: of the Jews about to be killed in about nine months.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: What does Esther do about that situation? Because again, the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: king's word is absolute. He cannot go back even on
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: his own word. So what are they going to do
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: to actually... save the Jewish people? Well, we will find
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: out in the next couple chapters. Well, faithful listeners, I
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: hope that you've been enjoying the book of Esther with me.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: I have been loving this book, enjoying talking about it.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: It's really fun to go into more of like a
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: storytelling mode instead of deep theology. Sometimes I do enjoy
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the episodes where we do theology, but sometimes it's nice
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: just to have like an easygoing kind of episode where
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: we just hear about history and God's goodness. And that
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to me is the book of Esther. So I hope
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: you guys have been enjoying it right along with me.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Faithful listeners, before I end today's podcast with my usual
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: happy listening and God bless, please hang in there for
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: one last sponsored advertisement. All right, faithful listeners, hopefully I'll
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: see you guys tomorrow where we will discuss some more
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: theology in the book of 1 Peter. And we're moving
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: into a new chapter of 1 Peter, 1 Peter 3.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: And again, continuing with the subject of submission that we've
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: been going through for the past few episodes. So hopefully
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: you guys tune in to tomorrow's episode as well. But
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: faithful listeners, I hope you all have a fantastic and
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: wonderful rest of your day. I will see you guys
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: hopefully tomorrow, 6 a.m. or whenever you choose to wake
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: up and listen. As always, happy listening and God bless.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explained podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio.com,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: You'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network.
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.