Fingerprints of God: In Radical Reversal

Esther 7 – ¹ So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” ³ Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. ⁴ For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” ⁶ And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.

⁷ And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. ⁸ And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face. ⁹ Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

Have you ever been in a season of life where everything that could go wrong went wrong, and when all hope seemed to vanish suddenly, something or someone turned the tables in your favor? I asked because in Esther 7, Jewish people living in exile were facing extinction and when it seemed all hope was lost and things had turned from bad to worse, God turned the tables in their favor through the faithful and fearless leadership of Esther. If you are in the season of pain, waiting and praying patiently for divine favor, then Esther 7 is exactly what you need to endure a little longer to experience divine radically reversal in your situation.  

The problem is that most people give up too fast because they want fast results. They need to know that just as chess is a game of patience and deliberate planning where skilled players think many moves ahead and set traps that may not spring until much later in the game, God in His providence set up events far in advance that we cannot see until the turning or tipping point that draws a swift radical reversal for those who trust God with patience.

Esther 7 was the tipping point that turned the tables and brought a radical reversal that ended the rise and reign of wicked Haman, the enemy of the Jews, God’s people. The whole book of Esther hinges on the divine radical reversal in Esther 7.

The big idea is, don't despise divine delays when you don’t see a divine favor in the reversal of your situation. If God hasn’t moved yet, it may be because the pieces aren’t in place for maximum impact. We know that because in Esther 1-6, we witness the fingerprints of God in putting all the pieces in place for maximum impact. What began in sovereign silence, now in Esther 7, is manifested in a series of divine radical reversals to reveal truth about Esther, Haman, and the genetic decree against the Jews to draw swift judgment through three simple human activities of planned petition in faith, pathetic plea in fear, and perfect penalty in favor.

 Planned Petition in Faith (Esther 7:1-4)

 Esther 7 starts with verses 1-2, “¹ So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. ² And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.”” The King had already asked Esther twice, and this third time, as far as the King is concerned, there is no way of knowing whether the Queen would tell him her wish and request.

However, verse reads, “Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request.” We know this was the time because of the events in Esther 6 that we studied last time, but Esther knew this was the time to put forth her petition by faith. Hebrews 11:1, in ESV, defines faith as, “… the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” So, faith is closely tied to time, more specifically, the future and the unknown. We know God holds the future, and He transcends time and space.

When we exercise faith, we reject the constraint of time and space, abandon reliance on our talents and skills, and put our complete confidence in God’s timing and sovereignty. It's faith that fights fears. By faith, Esther called on Jews to pray and fast for three days and nights. By faith, she went into the court of the King, well aware of the consequences of appearing before the King uninvited. By faith, she delayed her petition, the first time. By faith, she asked the king to come to her place for a banquet and bring Haman with him. By faith, she delayed her petition the second time and asked the King and Haman to come back the next evening. Now by faith, she sensed God’s timing and take active steps.

For maximum divine impact, God gave Esther time to plan her petition in faith. She had heard those questions twice, so she prepared the answers carefully and prayerfully. She listed them in the order they were asked.

To the question, what is your wish?

She said, “Let my life be granted me for my wish.”

To the question, what is your request?

She said, “Grant my people for my request.”

She didn’t stop there; she provided the reason for the petition with undeniable proof. Esther 7:4 reads, “For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Esther literally used identical words to the King’s edict as requested by Haman in Esther 3:9. The King may not have recognized those words because he gave the signet ring to Haman, who wrote the edicts to his liking, but Haman immediately recognized those words.

Esther’s planned petition in faith revealed her identity as a Jewish person, which revealed that her silence was not fear-driven but Spirit-led. Also, rather than a plea for self-preservation, her petition was in solidarity with God’s people.

This makes me think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who could have escaped Nazi Germany, but chose to stay with his people and ultimately died in solidarity with God’s people.

Application

Never hesitate to identify with Christ, especially in suffering and persecution, because Christ identified with us in suffering by bearing our sins.

Pathetic Plea in Fear (Esther 7:5-8)

Esther 7:5-6, “⁵ Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” ⁶ And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen.” The king’s question sets up the divine reversal. Haman is terrified because his true identity is revealed, he wanted the Jews dead. Just as the Nazi’s true identity was revealed before the world, Haman's true nature was revealed before the king.

Esther 7:7 continues the story, “And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. In fear, Haman was moved to a desperate plea for mercy.”

In verse 8, I want you to see how God used his pathetic plea in fear to seal his downfall for divine maximum impact. Esther 7:8 reads, “And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” Now, some translations say “…rape the queen” or “…molest the queen,” perhaps because the Hebrew word there, kabash which also means to violate. Given the circumstances, it is better to translate as attack or assault. Verse 8 ends with, “As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman's face.” This is how God’s providence meets His perfect timing to reveal the truth, to expose the evil, and to deliver God's chosen people.

Before we move on, I want us to notice that Haman’s political move was that it was in the best interest of the king and the empire to get rid of Jews, but now it has become clear that he was on a personal mission motivated by his ancestral hate against the Jews.

Since I grew up in Pakistan, I can testify that most Muslims there do not even know why they hate Israel; they hate because their parents and their grandparents hated them. Christians in Pakistan love Israel and pray for Jews because their ancestors didn’t hate Israel. Today, what we see in the world is ancestral hate wrapped in politics.

Application

Nothing can remain hidden— no sin, no shame, no struggle, and no suffering. Jesus, in Luke 8:17, said, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” So live in integrity, and don’t rush to self-defense; God will expose the truth in due time.

Perfect Penalty in Favor (Esther 7:9-10)

Esther 7:9 reads, “Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman's house, fifty cubits high.” The words of Harbona were the last nail in Haman’s coffin. We are not told how Harbona knew this information, but what we have been shown throughout the book is that nothing is coincidental. Notice the fingerprints of God in this radical reversal, too. God put Harbona there and used His mouth to instruct the king how to provide providential poetic justice. So that the favor Esther sought out before God does not come from a man but from God. Therefore, verse 9 continues, “And the king said, “Hang him on that.””

Esther 7 concludes with verse 10, “So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.” The device of execution that Haman built to satisfy His pride and hate against Mordecai became his own undoing. This is a beautiful picture of biblical irony and a display of divine justice. The one who plotted destruction now faced destruction. That is the radical reversal God was shaping behind the scenes.

Romans 12:19 says, “…never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Application

Don’t be surprised when God’s justice comes in ways that mirror the enemy’s plans. God often turns instruments of destruction into testimonies of deliverance. We saw how God brought swift judgment against Haman to deliver His people through ordinary activities of planned petition in faith, pathetic plea in fear, and perfect penalty in favor.

Closing Thought

As I close, I want you to zoom out and focus on the slow pace of God in Esther 1-6. Though everyone was in a rush, they couldn't rush God. If they couldn’t rush God, we can’t either. However, when all pieces were put together for maximum impact, suddenly everything was rushed to a divinely directed conclusion. We see that in the coming of Christ as well. For thousands of years, people waited for the Messiah, and when the time came, it happened very fast. Now it has been over 2000 years, and people have been waiting for the second coming of Christ, and the book of Revelation tells us that when it happens, it will happen really fast. In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Paul says, “⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

Action Step

When it seems like the clock is running out, the odds are stacked against you, and help is nowhere to be found, trust in God. God has the power to change everything at the very last moment, and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, He can reverse the adversarial situations into favorable outcomes.

Appeal

Do not give up too quickly, because it is never over until God says it’s over. Don't despise divine delays when you don’t see a radical reversal in your situation fast enough. If God could turn the gallows of Haman into the salvation of Israel, He can turn the very things meant to destroy you into the instruments of your deliverance. If God could turn the cross, the instrument of pain, suffering, and shame, into the emblem of our faith and an instrument of salvation, He can turn your struggles and shame into the instrument of your growth and faith. If God hasn’t moved yet, it may be because the pieces aren’t in place for maximum impact. While you wait and pray patiently for God’s favor, brace yourself for the maximum impact because when all the pieces are in the right place, He will bring a swift, radical reversal for your deliverance.

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