Esther 7 – What goes around comes around.

In the previous chapter, we saw how poetic justice played out for Haman. Instead of receiving the king’s permission to hang Mordecai, he was asked to honor Mordecai. After carrying out the king’s command, Haman went home dejected. Before he could even settle, a messenger from the king arrived to summon him to the second banquet that Esther had prepared for him and the king.

At the banquet, circumstances aligned perfectly for Esther to present her case to the king. The king reiterated his promise to the queen, offering her anything she would request, even if it meant half his kingdom. Esther, with strategic brilliance, presented her petition to the king. She revealed her Jewish heritage, as well as the plot Haman had hatched to annihilate the Jews.

The king responded to her Jewish identity calmly but became furious upon learning of Haman’s plot to harm her and her people. Angrily, the king stepped out for a while, probably to recompose his thoughts. When the king returned from the garden, he saw Haman falling before the couch where Esther was seated to beg for mercy. He mistakenly thought that Haman wanted to harm Esther, so he angrily ordered Haman to be executed. Immediately, Haman was led away and hung on the gallows he had built at his house.

This account reminds us of Proverbs 26:27 which says, “He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.” The trap we create for others may boomerang and return to harm us. The rooster always returns to roost.