Summer Reading, Esther 6-7


These are the chapters of the Great Reversal, when the tables get turned. Haman believes himself to be worthy of the honor of the king, suggesting a grand means for doing so, only to have to implement the plan in honor of Mordecai. Esther invites Haman to a banquet—surely to honor him—but he is accused and degraded, exposed for his plotting against the queen’s people. Haman planned to execute Mordecai and his people, and is instead impaled on the very pole / gallows he had built for the purpose.



Haman seems to be plotting more trouble; his actions and aspirations suggest he wants to usurp the throne. He imagines himself dressed in the king’s clothes—not clothing like the king’s, but the actual clothing the king wears; and he “falls” upon Esther as she reclines, which the king takes as assault. Taking possession of the king’s woman is an act of treason and a sign that the king has been conquered (graphically demonstrated by Absalom taking over David’s throne, 2 Sam 16).

Several parallels may grab your attention:
Haman “falling” on Esther as she reclined on the couch sounds like Joseph and Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39)
Pharaoh also had sleepless nights, leading to the salvation of God’s people through Joseph’s careful planning in time of famine (Gen. 41)
“up to half my kingdom” is what Herod offered the little girl Salome who danced for him, resulting in the beheading of John the Baptizer (Mark 6:21-29)

Remember the tendency to hyperbole in this carefully crafted fairy tale: neither a gallows for hanging nor a stake for impaling would have actually been 75 feet tall (25 cubits). And the king’s continued failure to recognize what is going on, his incapacity to make his own decisions, and the seeming intolerance of the Persians toward immigrants is not reflective of historical descriptions of the time. But it creates more drama for the story. (Think “the one that got away”)

Some questions:
What is important about the Great Reversal in these chapters? As a person of faith reading this story, does it seem like something God is doing, or is it just luck, or just the way the story is written?

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