The Gallows of Providence: Haman's High Place Text: Esther 7:7-10
Introduction: The Unraveling of Envy
The book of Esther is a masterclass in divine providence, where the name of God is never mentioned, but the hand of God is never absent. It is a story told with a straight face and a divine wink. God is orchestrating everything, from the sleepless nights of a pagan king to the drunken rages of a petty tyrant. And here, in chapter seven, we come to the great unraveling. The turning point, the hinge upon which the entire story swings, has just occurred. Esther has revealed her identity and has pointed her finger at "this wicked Haman."
What follows is not just the downfall of a villain. It is a demonstration of one of the central laws of the universe, a law as fixed as gravity: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Haman is the archetypal fool of Proverbs. He is a man consumed by envy, which the Bible tells us is rottenness to the bones. He built his entire identity on his position, his wealth, and his proximity to power. But his one great frustration, the one pebble in his shoe, was a faithful Jew who would not bow. This frustration, born of pride and envy, led him to devise a genocidal plot, and in his arrogance, he built a gallows, a seventy-five-foot monument to his own anticipated victory.
We must understand that the world is full of Hamans. They are men who hate God, and therefore they hate the people of God. They cannot stand the reminder that there is a King in heaven to whom all men owe allegiance. Like Haman, they plot and they scheme, and they believe their high places are secure. But God delights in what we might call a holy irony. He loves to take the very instrument of the wicked's pride and make it the instrument of their destruction. He catches the wise in their own craftiness. This passage is a beautiful, terrifying, and ultimately glorious picture of how God works in the world to save His people and to bring the proud plans of the wicked to nothing.
The Text
And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine and went into the garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king.
Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. So the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, “Behold indeed, the gallows, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king, are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.”
So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath subsided.
(Esther 7:7-10 LSB)
The King's Wrath and the Coward's Plea (v. 7)
We begin with the immediate aftermath of Esther's accusation:
"And the king arose in his wrath from drinking wine and went into the garden of his palace; but Haman stayed to seek for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king." (Esther 7:7)
Ahasuerus is a man of great passion and little principle. His wrath is as volatile and dangerous as a forest fire. He had just been enjoying a private banquet, honoring Haman, only to discover that his honored guest had arranged for the execution of his beloved queen. The wine, which had been lubricating the party, now fuels his rage. He storms out into the palace garden to cool off, or perhaps to decide what to do. But notice how providence works. The king's exit leaves Haman alone with the queen, which is the setup for the final, fatal act of this drama.
Haman, for his part, sees the writing on the wall. The text says he "saw that calamity had been determined against him by the king." This man, who moments before was puffed up with pride, is now a pathetic, groveling coward. His pride was a hollow shell, and the moment it is punctured, he collapses into a puddle of fear. He stays behind to beg for his life from the very woman he had plotted to kill. The great enemy of the Jews is now on his knees before a Jewess. This is how God humiliates the proud. He makes them beg for mercy from those they despised.
This is a picture of all God's enemies. They are full of bluster and threats. They build their gallows and pass their decrees. They mock the people of God and the God they serve. But when the King of kings finally rises in His wrath, their courage will evaporate. On the day of judgment, all the bravado of the wicked will melt away, and they will see that calamity has been determined against them.
A Fatal Misunderstanding (v. 8)
The scene that follows is a masterpiece of what we might call providential slapstick. It would be comical if it were not so deadly serious.
"Now the king returned from the garden of his palace into the place where they were drinking wine. And Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. So the king said, 'Will he even assault the queen with me in thehouse?' As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face." (Esther 7:8)
Haman, in his desperation, throws himself at Esther's feet to plead for his life. In the ancient near east, this would have involved prostrating himself and perhaps trying to grab her robes. The furniture was not like ours; they reclined on couches to eat. So Haman is scrambling or falling onto the couch where Esther is reclining. At that precise, perfectly timed moment, the king walks back in. And what he sees confirms his worst suspicions in the worst possible way. To his wine-soaked and enraged mind, it looks like Haman is not just a conspirator but is now attempting to sexually assault the queen in the king's own presence.
The king's exclamation is one of utter disbelief: "Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?" This is the final nail in Haman's coffin. There is no defense against this. It doesn't matter what Haman's actual intent was. In the court of an absolute monarch, perception is reality, especially when that monarch is already looking for a reason to kill you. God, in His meticulous providence, arranged the timing and the optics to be as damning as possible. The Lord needed Haman gone, and He used Haman's own panicked flailing to seal the deal.
As soon as the king speaks, the guards act. "They covered Haman’s face." This was the customary action for a man condemned to death. It signified that he was no longer worthy to look upon the king's face, and the king no longer wished to look upon his. The verdict is rendered, and the sentence is instantaneous. There is no appeal. From the pinnacle of power to a condemned man in the space of a few minutes. This is how quickly the fortunes of the wicked can turn.
The Perfect Solution (v. 9)
Now all that is needed is the means of execution. And here, providence provides the punchline. It is a joke that only God could write, and Haman is the butt of it.
"Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were before the king, said, 'Behold indeed, the gallows, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good on behalf of the king, are standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high!' And the king said, 'Hang him on it.'" (Esther 7:9)
One of the king's servants, Harbonah, conveniently remembers the massive structure Haman had just built. Notice how he frames it. This isn't just any gallows. It is the gallows "which Haman made for Mordecai." And who is Mordecai? He is the man "who spoke good on behalf of the king," referring to the time he uncovered the assassination plot. Harbonah's statement does two things. It provides the king with a ready-made instrument of death, and it reminds him that the intended victim was a loyal servant, while the builder of the gallows is a traitor. The contrast could not be more stark.
The irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. The very monument to Haman's pride, the seventy-five-foot declaration of his anticipated triumph over God's servant, is now repurposed for his own execution. He dug a pit for another and has fallen into it himself. He was caught in the trap he set. This is a recurring theme in Scripture. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands (Psalm 9:16). This is not random chance; it is the outworking of God's perfect, retributive justice.
The king's response is swift and decisive: "Hang him on it." The command is simple, brutal, and just. The very thing Haman intended for evil against God's people, God intended for good, using it to bring about Haman's own just destruction.
The Wrath of God Appeased (v. 10)
The chapter concludes with the execution of the sentence and the resolution of the king's anger.
"So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s wrath subsided." (Esther 7:10)
The deed is done. The enemy is dead. The story explicitly states that he was hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Let the reader understand. When you set yourself against God's covenant people, you are picking a fight with God Himself. And in that contest, you will always lose. Your cleverest plans will backfire, your greatest strengths will become your fatal weaknesses, and the monuments to your pride will become the memorials of your downfall.
And with the execution, "the king's wrath subsided." A just penalty has been paid, and the anger of the sovereign is appeased. This is a small, earthly picture of a much greater theological reality. The wrath of God burns against sin and against all who rebel against Him. That wrath must be satisfied. Justice must be done. For Haman, justice came in the form of a rope on his own gallows. For us, the principle is the same. The wages of sin is death.
The Gallows of Christ
This story is not just about poetic justice for a long-dead Persian official. It is a story that points us to the cross of Jesus Christ. For in the cross, we see this principle of the gallows in its ultimate, glorious expression.
Satan, the great Haman, the accuser of the brethren, thought he had won a great victory at Calvary. He stirred up the envy of the religious leaders and the wrath of the pagan Romans. He took the cross, an instrument of Roman torture and shame, and thought he would use it to destroy the Son of God and put an end to His kingdom. He built a gallows for the King of the Jews.
But in the glorious, divine irony of God, the cross became the very instrument of Satan's own destruction. The gallows that Satan built for Christ became the throne from which Christ judged him. Through death, Jesus destroyed him who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14). On that cross, Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in it (Colossians 2:15). The gallows became a victory stand.
And what of the wrath of the king? The wrath of King Ahasuerus was appeased when Haman was hanged. The wrath of God the Father against our sin was fully and finally appeased when His own Son was hanged on a tree. Jesus took the curse that we deserved. He was lifted high on the gallows that our sin had built, and He absorbed the full measure of God's determined calamity against us.
Therefore, we can look at the story of Haman and take courage. God is on His throne. He is working all things, even the wrath of pagan kings and the malice of proud men, for the good of His people. The Hamans of this world can build their gallows, but they will find, in the end, that they were only building the instruments of their own demise. And we can look to the cross, the ultimate gallows of providence, and know that the wrath of the King has been satisfied. Our enemy is defeated, our sin is paid for, and our Mordecai, the Lord Jesus, has been exalted to the highest place.