Esther: Chapter 7 | Orthodox Bible Study

Esther chapter 7 study: the dramatic climax where Esther reveals her identity and Haman's plot is foiled at the second banquet. • Review of chapter 6 recap and setup for chapter 7 [0:18] → King could not sleep, reads records, learns Mordecai was never rewarded [0:50] → Haman walks in planning to hang Mordecai; king asks how to honor someone [1:19] → Haman thinks it is himself, suggests royal treatment; king orders it for Mordecai [1:34] • Continuation from chapter 5: Esther's two banquets [2:01] → After three days of fasting, Esther risks her life entering the king's court uninvited [2:15] → Masoretic vs Septuagint accounts of her entrance; king angry in Septuagint [2:34] → First banquet; king asks her request; she requests a second banquet [3:04] • The second banquet and the king's third asking (Esther 7:1-2) [3:37] → King and Haman dine with Queen Esther on the second day [3:40] → King asks for the third time what her petition is, offering up to half the kingdom [3:45] → Parallel with Herod's rash offer to the daughter of Herodias [5:58] • Esther's humble and strategic petition (Esther 7:3-4) [6:51] → She asks for her life and the lives of her people [6:57] → Uses same language as Haman's decree: sold, destroyed, killed, annihilated [7:03] → References finding favor in the king's sight from earlier chapters [7:37] → Notes that slavery would have been preferable; enemy could never compensate the loss [7:11] • Esther uses the king's own decree language against Haman [9:57] → Chapter 3:9 and 3:13 contain the exact phrasing she repeats [10:19] → King still does not know she is Israelite [11:28] • The king demands to know the adversary (Esther 7:5-6) [12:25] → King asks who would dare do such a thing [12:39] → Esther identifies Haman as the wicked adversary and enemy [12:51] → Hebrew wordplay between adversary and annihilated noted [13:48] → Haman is terrified before the king and queen [12:58] • The king's wrath and Haman's desperate plea (Esther 7:7-8) [13:39] → King arises in wrath and goes to the palace garden [13:48] → Haman stands pleading for his life, then falls across Esther's couch in despair [14:17] → King returns and interprets it as an assault on the queen [14:43] → Haman's face is covered; parallel to a desperate child clinging to a parent's leg [15:13] • Haman hanged on his own gallows (Esther 7:9-10) [16:28] → Harbona points out the 50-cubit gallows Haman built for Mordecai [16:28] → King orders Haman hanged on it; the king's wrath subsides [16:36] → Poetic justice: Haman's plan foiled and turned against him [17:04] • Allegory of the cross and victory through suffering [17:21] → Gallows symbolize the cross; Haman symbolizes the devil [17:32] → The instrument meant for evil becomes the means of victory [17:44] → Christ on the cross conquers the devil who was unsure of his identity [18:20] → Carrying the cross is not contingent on earthly reward or prosperity gospel promises [19:00] • Spiritual life is relationship with God, not mere reward-seeking [20:07] → Following Christ should not be only to avoid punishment or gain heaven [20:25] → The life after death continues what was begun on earth [20:50] → Without God there is no victory over the struggles of life [19:46] • Closing prayer and blessing [21:20]