The Unmasking of Evil: Esther’s Petition Text: Esther 7:1-6
Introduction: The Hidden Hand of God
The book of Esther is unique in the canon of Scripture for one particular reason that makes many modern, tidy-minded Christians a bit nervous. The name of God is not mentioned once. Not a single time. And yet, there is no book in the Bible where the hand of God is more plainly, more gloriously, and more terrifyingly evident. God's providence is not absent; it is the stage, the script, the lighting, and the director of the entire drama. He is so present that to name Him would be to state the obvious. It would be like interrupting a hurricane to remark on the wind.
This book is a master class in divine irony and the hidden operations of God in the midst of a thoroughly pagan and corrupt political system. It teaches us that God does not need a theocracy in order to accomplish His will. He can use drunken, despotic kings, pagan beauty pageants, sleepless nights, and the shrewd courage of a faithful woman to bring about the salvation of His people and the spectacular downfall of His enemies. This is not a story about how to withdraw from the world, but how to wisely and courageously engage it, even when the odds are stacked against you and the levers of power are in the hands of fools and villains.
We come now to the climax of the story. The gallows Haman built for Mordecai are standing tall, a monument to his pride. The king is still clueless, Haman is puffed up with arrogance, and Esther has risked her life to invite them both to a second, private banquet. The tension is palpable. This is the moment of revelation, the great unmasking. After this scene, nothing will be the same. Haman's world is about to come crashing down around him, and the instrument of its collapse will be the very person he discounted and despised. This is how God works. He delights in turning the tables, in using the weak to confound the mighty, and in hanging the wicked on their own gallows.
The Text
Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen.
And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done."
Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition, and my people as my request;
for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king."
Then King Ahasuerus said he said to Esther the Queen, "Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?"
So Esther said, "An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!" Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
(Esther 7:1-6 LSB)
The Final Banquet (v. 1-2)
The scene is set with a deceptive calm, a final moment of wine and feasting before the storm breaks.
"Then the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the feast, 'What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be given you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.'" (Esther 7:1-2)
Haman arrives at this banquet on the highest of highs. The night before, he had paraded his mortal enemy, Mordecai, through the streets in royal honors, a bitter pill to be sure. But his wife and friends had reassured him. The gallows were ready. And now, he alone is invited to dine with the king and queen. In his mind, this is the ultimate confirmation of his status. He is the king's right hand, the queen's confidant. His pride has reached its zenith, which, in a world governed by a holy God, is the most dangerous place to be. Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Haman is not just haughty; he is a textbook illustration of the principle.
The king, Ahasuerus, is a man ruled by his appetites and his ego. He is not a deep thinker. He is, however, consistent in his offer. For the third time, he offers Esther anything, "even to half of the kingdom." This is hyperbolic, of course, but it shows the extent of her favor with him. God has given her this favor for this precise moment. The king is relaxed, mellowed by the wine, and feeling magnanimous. The timing is perfect, not because of luck, but because of the meticulous providence of God who had kept the king awake all night reading the chronicles just so Mordecai's loyalty would be fresh in his mind. God sets the stage down to the smallest detail.
The Wise Petition (v. 3-4)
Esther's response is a masterpiece of wisdom, courage, and rhetorical skill. She does not blurt out her accusation. She builds her case carefully.
"Then Queen Esther answered and said, 'If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it seems good to the king, let my life be given to me as my petition, and my people as my request; for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for the adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king.'" (Esther 7:3-4 LSB)
Notice her approach. She begins with humility and respect for the king's authority: "If I have found favor... if it seems good to the king." She is not a modern feminist demanding her rights. She is a wise woman operating within the established structure, using the tools God has given her. Her first move is to make the issue personal. She doesn't ask for policy changes or for a committee to be formed. She asks for her life. "Let my life be given to me." This immediately grabs the king's attention. His queen, whom he favors, is under a death sentence? Unthinkable.
Then she broadens the request: "and my people as my request." She identifies herself with her people. She had hidden her identity, but now, at the moment of truth, she stands with them. This is the "for such a time as this" moment. Her courage is not in her own strength, but in her identification with the covenant people of God.
She then frames the issue in terms the king can understand: economics and royal dignity. She uses the exact language of the edict Haman had written: "to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be caused to perish." This was not some minor inconvenience. This was genocide. And she brilliantly contrasts this with a lesser evil. If they had merely been sold into slavery, she says, she would have kept quiet. Why? Because the financial loss to the king from a pogrom would be far greater than the profit from selling them as slaves. She frames it as an attack on the king's own treasury and honor. "The adversity would not be worth the annoyance to the king." She is saying, "King, you have been played for a fool. Someone has tricked you into signing a decree that is not only wicked, but is also monumentally stupid and damaging to your own kingdom."
The Explosive Question (v. 5)
Esther's calculated words have their desired effect. The king, whose ego is his most prominent feature, is incensed. He has been duped.
"Then King Ahasuerus said he said to Esther the Queen, 'Who is this one, and where is this one, who fills his heart to do thus?'" (Esther 7:5 LSB)
The king's repetition reveals his shock and rage. "Who is this one, and where is this one?" The language here is emphatic. Who would dare? Who has the audacity to presume to harm the queen and damage the kingdom? The phrase "who fills his heart" could also be translated "who has dared" or "whose heart has swollen with presumption." The king has no idea that the man he is looking for is sitting right there at the table with him, enjoying a glass of wine.
This is the beautiful, terrible irony that God has orchestrated. The king, who signed the decree without a second thought, is now condemning the very act he authorized. He is blind to his own complicity. And Haman, who thought he was untouchable, is about to be revealed as the architect of a plot against the king's own wife. He walked into that room as the guest of honor; he will not walk out.
The Great Unmasking (v. 6)
This is the moment the entire book has been building towards. Esther has the king's full attention. She has the villain in her sights. And she does not flinch.
"So Esther said, 'An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!' Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen." (Esther 7:6 LSB)
Imagine the scene. A quiet banquet hall. Two men and one woman. The king is seething, demanding a name. Esther turns, points her finger, and delivers the fatal blow: "An adversary and an enemy is this evil Haman!" She uses two words for enemy, piling on the condemnation. And she adds the moral evaluation: "this evil Haman." There is no ambiguity. The trap has been sprung.
The effect is instantaneous. "Then Haman became terrified." The Hebrew word means he was shattered with terror. All the color drains from his face. The wine turns to poison in his stomach. In one sentence, his world has been turned upside down. The man who was just moments ago basking in the glow of royal favor is now exposed as a traitor, a conspirator, and an enemy of the state. He is trapped. There is no escape. The king is enraged, and the queen he has plotted to kill is his accuser. He is utterly ruined, and he knows it.
Conclusion: The Pattern of Pride and Justice
This scene is more than just palace intrigue. It is a paradigm for how God deals with arrogant evil. Haman is a type of all those who set themselves against God and His people. He is the seed of the serpent, filled with an ancient hatred for the seed of the woman. His pride, his ambition, and his hatred for God's people are the very instruments of his own destruction.
God's justice is often like this. It is not always a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky. Often, it is a slow, meticulous, ironic process. God gives the wicked enough rope, and they fashion their own noose. He allows their pride to inflate until it is just moments from bursting. He lets them build their gallows, dig their pits, and lay their traps. And then, at the perfect moment, He springs the trap, and they are caught in the very device they intended for the righteous. "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate" (Psalm 7:15-16).
Esther, in this, is a model for us. She did not know the outcome. She acted in faith, with wisdom, courage, and shrewdness. She used the means available to her. She fasted and prayed, and then she went and made dinner. She shows us that faithfulness in the civil realm is not about angry protests on the street corner, but about wise, courageous, and principled engagement within the structures that exist. She honored the king while simultaneously maneuvering him into a position where he had to do justice.
And ultimately, this story points us to a greater story of salvation. We, like the Jews, were under a sentence of death. Satan, a far more wicked Haman, had schemed for our destruction. But our King, for the love of His bride, the Church, has turned the tables. At the cross, the gallows that Satan intended for Christ became the very instrument of Satan's own defeat. The evil one was unmasked and disarmed. And we, who were destined for destruction, have been given life. Therefore, we should live as Esther did, with courage and wisdom, knowing that our God is sovereignly working all things, even the rage of pagan kings and the pride of wicked men, for the good of His people and the glory of His name.