Est. 5: Queen Requ-Esther

Esther 5:8 "If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king's question."

The plan is underway. Esther was finally convinced by Mordecai to grow a pair, and she courageously appears before King Xerxes. From what we have seen with how Xerxes dealt with Vashti, Xerxes was a moody guy, and there was probably no way to tell just how he would react to seeing Esther in his court unannounced and without appointment. He could have offed her at his whim. But he did not. He extended the scepter of welcome, which was the signal of like, "Ah, cool. It's ok for you to be here. Let's chat about whatever."

Esther has a request for the king, but she doesn't tell him what it is. She asks to throw a banquet to ask both Xerxes and Haman together. Not suspicious. She doesn't tell the king what the request is, choosing to wait until the following day at the banquet to unveil her request. The king must have been pretty pleased with his bride, as he was willing to grant up to half the kingdom to Esther. Which is probably a lot. I'm not as familiar with the socio-political climate of ancient Persia as I should be, so I don't know how much power women are given, and what their standing is.

Haman is pretty proud of himself and is riding pretty high in the saddle, having been personally singled out by the queen to have a banquet thrown for him. And who wouldn't be. He was into power. He was driven. Now he's going to have this event in his honor. 

Then he sees Mordecai by the king's gate again.

Since Mordecai refuses to bow or rise or bow and rise for Haman, Haman got super mad. But he showed some restraint, and, fuming, went on his way. Boasting to his friends and wife about how he is being given this banquet, he still can't get over Mordecai's disrespect. Zeresh and his friends, who are all about answers, tell him to build a gallows 75 feet high, have Mordecai hanged on it, and then go about his business with the banquet. Yeah, a hanging of a civilian. That will throw the fear into the people, and if they don't respect him after that...well...at least he'll have plenty of business for that 75-foot gallows.

Mordecai assumes God will deliver Israel from this plot. He doesn't know exactly how, but Esther is one vessel that can be used. He puts his hope in the promises God made to Israel, so how could Israel be wiped out. Despite his mourning over the decree, I'm sure Mordecai had joy about who his God is. And God could have poured fire down on Xerxes, and God could have done what he did with the armies of Israel's enemies, throwing confusion into them, and have them slash and impale each other. Or God could reach down, use a person out of nowhere, and make something awesome happen. 

We'll see.