May 22, 2010 Esther 5-10

Three days later, God answered their prayers, because when the king saw Esther, he was happy to see her and invited her to speak with him. He told her she could have whatever she asked for. She invited him to a dinner and she asked him to bring Haman. So they went to the dinner and as they were sitting there the king told Esther to ask him for whatever she wanted. She asked him to come again to dinner the next day and she would tell him. When Haman left he saw Mordecai at the gate. Haman got angry when Mordecai ignored him, so he went home and planned to kill him. Haman got together with his wife and some friends and bragged about how fabulous he was. His friends suggested he build a 75 foot high platform and hang Mordecai from it. Haman liked the idea and had the tower built.

That night the king couldn't sleep and had some reading material brought to him. It just so happened to be the record of how Mordecai had saved his life. The king realized that Mordecai had never been rewarded for his dedication to him and decided to change that. Meanwhile, Haman came in to ask the king if he could hang Mordecai. Before he could make his request, the king asked him how he would honor a hero? So Haman told him he would present him with a robe worn by the king, and a horse the king had ridden with a royal headdress. Then, arrayed in all this finery, he would parade the person through the town and proclaim his worthiness to everyone. It just so happened Haman thought that the king was thinking about him. Imagine his chagrin when he realized that the king intended Haman to do this for Mordecai! After Haman finished honoring Mordecai he hung his head in shame and went home and told his wife and friends what had happened. Then the king's servants came and took him to Esther's second dinner.

Esther told the king that she wanted him to save her and her people from destruction. When the king asked who wanted to destroy them, Esther told him it was Haman. The king had to get some air and while he was standing in the garden, Haman fell on Esther and begged her to save his life. Just then the king came in and saw Haman on his wife and shouted about her being raped right in front of him. They took Haman out and hanged him on the gallows he had made to hang Mordecai. Then the king settled down.

The king gave Esther everything that had belonged to Haman. Then Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property. Esther again went to the king and begged that Haman's evil plot to destroy the Jews be reversed. The king gave her permission to change the laws to make this happen. So the Jews were preserved and protected. All the Jews everywhere celebrated.

Everyone was afraid of Mordecai, so they sided with him. The Jews killed many people, including Haman's 10 sons and family. The king went to Esther and asked her if there was anything else she wanted him to do. She asked him to allow the Jews to defend themselves and to hang the bodies of Haman's 10 sons in public. So he did. After they killed more people, they were able to stop and celebrate by feasting and sending gifts of food to each other. This happened in the 12th month on the 14th and 15th days. Mordecai wrote it all down and called the celebration Purim. Esther followed up with a letter to lay out the new decree to celebrate Purim each year. Mordecai became the second most powerful leader next to the king in the kingdom. He advocated for the Jews to the king.

Tomorrow read Job 1-5:16