Apple Crumble, Haman Crumble
In Chapter 7, Haman’s treachery is dramatically revealed through Queen Esther’s brave appeal to King Xerxes. The King’s anger seals Haman’s fate.
D: And welcome back to another episode of big D:little d. We’re looking at Esther chapter 7. A lot happens in this chapter so, although it is a very short chapter, what can you tell me about it Declan?
d: Short chapter but very important. This part is Haman’s death and downfall as Esther reveals who she is.
D: And who he is. So take us through the events of the chapter
d: Well, in the past chapter the king’s eunuchs have arrived at Haman’s house and made him come to Esther’s banquet. And the king asks Esther what she would like.
D: That’s right, so remember, this is the 2nd banquet the Queen sets before the king and she’s using these banquets to make her requests known. In the 1st banquet she sets, the king says ;’What can I do for you? and she goes ‘Well, let me have another banquet with just you and Haman’ and so this is the 2nd banquet, and again the king is asking Queen Esther ‘What can I do for you?’ and now what does she ask for?
d: Well, now is the time when she asks about her wish. She says in verse 3 to 4 “then Queen Esther answered ‘My king, I hope you are pleased with me. If it pleases you, let me live. This is what I ask. And let my people live too. This is what I want. I ask this because my people and I have been sold to be destroyed. We are to be killed and completely wiped out. If we had been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet. That would not be enough of a problem to bother the king.
D: So Queen Esther is using this banquet to beg for her life because the king has signed a law, signed a decree that will actually take her life away and the king up till now still doesn’t know that Queen Esther and her people are the very Jewish people that he has signed a law to exterminate in his kingdom, because Haman has plotted to exterminate them. So these 2 and 3 verses are like a big reveal of Esther’s identity…
d: …and Haman’s treachery
D: Well yes, Haman’s treachery comes next because the king is infuriated. In verse 5 he says ‘Who is he, where is he -? The man who dares to do such a thing’ So he obviously is very pleased with Queen Esther, because he’s outraged that someone would threaten to kill and take his Queen and her people. And what is Queen Esther’s response?
d: In verse 6 ‘Esther said “A man who is against us – our enemy is this wicked Haman!’
D: Wow – that is the Big Reveal, part 2. The villain of this story is now unmasked! Haman is shown to be the one who is the enemy of not only the king’s Queen but also her people. So, at this Haman was terrified before the King and Queen. The king gets up in a rage and goes out into the palace garden for a walk around to get a breath of fresh air… and basically, Haman knows that he is in really deep trouble
d: …big trouble nothing can save him now.
D: So what happens next to turn the entire story to its conclusion?
d: Well when the king comes back to the banquet and one of the eunuchs tells him that there is a place where people hang people outside Haman’s house. This is the one that Hayman had prepared for Mordecai and the king says ‘Hang Haman on it’, so his own weapon is turned against him, when he meant to use it on his enemy.
D: Yeah, this is vicious justice isn’t it? We know as the audience that Haman had been plotting all along to set this thing up to kill Mordecai but in fact, and instead now, Haman meets his end on this Instrument of Destruction. So tell me, is there any question that sticks in your mind about this particular chapter?
d: Not in particular, but how we would apply it, that is very different thing. It’s more of a revelation. It’s a bit hard to apply to life.
D: OK, so you’re saying that this chapter where the evil guys are being revealed and Justice is being served is actually difficult to apply. Um, why’s that? You don’t think that happens a lot in our world?
d: I don’t think so, but I was thinking just then that maybe Jews or missionaries are persecuted and some might hide their faith so they can be with their friends, have fun… So maybe we need to reveal our faith, we can’t just say ‘I’m a Christian’.. we gotta reach out.
D: So you’re saying that this story reminds us that our identity as God’s people needs to shine out, um, with confidence especially in difficult times because God will care for and protect those who belong to him.
d: So, and also people, like, it doesn’t matter if you might struggle if you are a Christian, because God is always there looking out for us. There’s always new opportunities.
D: I wonder if you thought of what the original listeners of the story would have thought when they heard that Haman is going to be killed on this stake, on this hanging gallow, or hanging platform instead of Mordecai – what do you think they would have…how do you think they would have responded?
d: Well, it’s very amazing- it’s a big shock because he’s preparing to kill his greatest enemy and then when he’s about to do it, then it’s used against him.
D: That’s right. I think that- I think that they would have probably whooped and cheered and clapped their hands and, you know, maybe if this was dramatized, they would have thrown rotten tomatoes at the actor playing Haman and you know, they would have also said ‘Impale him, kill him! Kill him! Hang him!’ And does that scene remind you of anything?
d: Well, it’s a bit like when Jesus is being crucified and the crowd and when Pilate gives them the choice of a thief or Jesus, and they all said ‘Kill Jesus!
D: That’s right,and they said ‘Crucify Him!’ and so they are looking at that time to kill someone who they think is causing a lot trouble to them, and he’s being a fake king, so they want to kill him- kill Jesus – and this is the exact opposite isn’t it? Jesus had come actually in fact to save his people but his people had come to the position where they wanted to get rid of him.
So I think, um there’s a really great dramatized version of this entire book of Esther that I’m gonna put into our link (see at the end of the post) which shows this really amazing part of the story, and it shows how out our expectations are reversed. We expect in this story of Esther, that the bad guy gets killed and it happens and the good guy is saved, but in the story of Jesus, the good guy seems to be the one who gets killed..
d: He’s killed, but hope is not lost. God is always there and 3 days later after the crucifixation... He rises from the dead.
D: That’s right, and that’s the basis of our hope in God . Well, that’s the end of another episode and tune in next time for Esther chapter 8. We’re near the end of the book and it’s getting more and more exciting. We’ve come to the climax in today’s chapter. I encourage you to read the rest of the book to see what happens next!
More Resources
See this awesome dramatised version of the Book of Esther, by the Spoken Gospel: The Bible Explained: Esther
The Percolated Life 
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