Shabbat Shalom. We have been studying for quite a while the book of Esther. Esther, this young Jewish girl who lived in Persia and somehow by the providence of God She was led to become the queen of King Achashverosh, who was that Xerxes, the king of the then known world, you might say, the king of Persia. Esther, a Jewish young girl, became the queen. And somehow the God of Israel through his providence have used Esther to preserve the Jewish people from the destruction of the enemies of the Jews a man by the name of Haman who sought to destroy the people of Israel and I would like you to turn to Esther and today I'm going to read all the 10 verses of Esther chapter 7 And I would like us to take this time together to look at this chapter and to see how the Lord in his wisdom and providence preserved the people of Israel for the future day when Israel as a nation will have a place of blessing here in this world and will be a nation that will be a light to the Gentile.

As we say to the prophet Isaiah, Or Lagoyim, a light to the nations of the world. So we read from verse 1. So the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther, On the second day, at the banquet of wine, what is thy petition, Queen Esther? And it shall be granted thee, and what is thy request? And it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favor in thy sight, O King, and if it please the King, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.

For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. Then the king, Achashverosh, answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he that darest presume in his heart to do so? And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. And the king, rising from the banquet of wine in his wrath, went into the palace garden. And Haman stood up to make requests for his life to Esther, the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden, into the place of the banquet of wine, and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. And Harbona, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also the gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordechai, who spoken good for the king standeth in the house of Haman then the king said hang him thereon so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai then was the king's wrath pacified those of you who were not with us doing the study of the book of Esther we have mentioned more than one time that the Jewish people who were at that day in which we read in the book of Esther those that remain in Persia were not in a proper suitable spiritual condition they should have not been in Persia they should have returned to the promised land they should have not remained in the diaspora in the dispersion they should have respond to the call of Cyrus already many years before to return back to the promised land, to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, to rebuild the wall, to rebuild the temple, and to worship the God of Israel in a proper place.

But instead of being in Yerushalayim, instead of being in Israel, instead of being in Canaan, they still remain in the diaspora. The lesson for you and I to learn from this is a very similar thing in the present day condition of the church age. There are many Christians, many believers in Yeshua who are saved, but instead of returning back into fellowship with the Lord, they stay far away from the place where God would have his people gathered together around the person of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. Sometimes you and I can be like this, beloved brothers and sisters. We are saved. Our salvation is secure because we have accepted the Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.

But spiritually, we are not where we should be. We are not near the Lord. We are walking far away from Him. We don't enjoy the fellowship with the Lord Jesus, with Yeshua the Messiah. And God is drawing us closer to Him. He wants us to be drawn to Him. And that's why you oftentimes find in Scripture the call of the Lord. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I'll give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Yeshua himself says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Learn of me.

You remember what he said? For I am meek and lowly in heart in Matthew, in the Gospel, and ye shall find rest to your soul. And so sometimes, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn from Israel's history. We apply it to our own life and we find ourselves oftentimes in a need of help from the Lord to stay close to him. So we are in the seventh chapter of the book of Esther. And here you find out that there was a man by the name of Haman. This Haman, this man, he's a wicked man. He was an Agagite. He was an Amalekite, and Amalek was the first nation that opposed the Jewish people when our nation came out of the land of Egypt.

Haman is a descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekite, and he sought to destroy the Jewish people. He sought to put away the Jewish people, the entire Jewish community, in the then known world under the empire of the Persians. So what shall we do? You remember Mordecai chapter 4? He was weeping. He was crying. He sent to Esther the queen who was inside the palace and he says, you got to do something about it. You're going to help your people, the Jewish people. And so she said, don't you know? Don't you know, Mordecai, if I'm going to come to the king, I'm liable to lose my life.

So he challenged her, and she said to him, okay, you go tell all the Jewish people to fast for me, and I'm going to go into the palace, and if I perish, I perish. And so we read in chapter 5, how if you remember the story of the courage of Esther and how she invited the king to come to a banquet. And so he was invited to come to the banquet. He came and he wanted to find out what's troubling her because she was saying, I want to ask you a question. I want to tell you something. And so when the time came for her to speak before the king in the fifth chapter, she said to the king, let us wait for the next day and please come to the second banquet that I am going to prepare.

And we are in chapter seven in the second banquet where Esther, this Jewish queen of the king of Persia, was going now to speak to the king and tell him what Haman, that wicked one, had planned to do to all the Jewish people. And in chapter 6, if you remember, it was one of the most beautiful chapters where the king could not sleep at night. And he asked for the book of the Chronicles to be brought to himself and he was reading in the book of the Chronicles And he found out that a man by the name of Mordechai, the Jew, saved his life. And so he asked his servant, what had happened to this man?

Did we reward him for the good that he had done to save my life? And the servant says, no. And so the king says, who is outside the gate? And you find out right outside in the palace there was Haman. He was coming to the king to ask him to kill this man by the name of Mordechai. And as he comes in and seeking to tell the king about Mordechai the Jew that he prepared a gallow for him, a tree to kill him, then the king said to him, Haman, what shall be done unto the man whom the king desired to honor? The king meant Mordechai.

But Haman thought about himself. He says, wow, I must have been the one that the king wants to honor. And you remember the story, beloved brothers and sisters. Haman said, oh, let the royal apparel be brought, which the king is wearing, and the horse, which the king ride upon him, and the crown, which the king set upon his head, and let the king allow this man whom the king desired to honor, sit on the horse, wear the clothes of the king, have the crown of the king, and let him be paraded, and said throughout Shushan the palace, thus it shall be done unto the men whom the king desired to honor.

Well, lo and behold, beloved brothers and sisters, the king said to Haman, you take this man by the name Mordechai the Jew, and you put him on my horse, you give him my clothes, and you parade him throughout the whole capital city of Persia, And can you imagine what a shock it must have been for this wicked man who wanted to kill Mordecai and prepare for him a high tree, 75 feet high, to hang him on the tree. Now, instead of hanging him on the tree, he was walking around and saying, Thus it shall be done unto the man whom the king desired to honor. And in type, beloved brothers and sisters, it speaks of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah.

He is the man whom God desires to honor. God will lift up the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, and he desires everyone to bow their knees before the person of Yeshua, Jesus, our Messiah. He is the man whom God desires to honor. So Mordecai became a type of the Messiah himself. So now as we conclude chapter 6 and we enter into chapter 7, you notice in the last verse of chapter 6 it says, While they were yet talking with him came the king's chamberlain in haste to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared. Quickly now, the banquet is going to start. Esther's invitation for the king and Haman, Esther is intending to do what she had to do, and now the king's servants coming to the house of Haman and telling Haman, come on, the king is calling you, let's go to the banquet that Queen Esther had prepared.

What do you think they were talking there in the house of Haman? In Haman's house, his wife and his servants told Haman, If you have begun to deal with Mordechai the Jew, who is of the seed of the Jewish people, they told Haman, it said, Thou shalt not prevail against him, but thou shalt surely fall before him. Esther 6 and verse 13. They understood that if Mordechai was a Jew, and he was, and for Haman the Agagai to seek to destroy him, he ultimately will fall and will stumble. And chapter 7 describes actually the doom of Haman, the Jew's enemy. Now, I mentioned not only for you, but even for myself to get the context of what we have here in this chapter.

So notice now, in chapter 7, verses 1 to 6, we have Haman and his plot is being revealed to the king, Achashverosh. All the plan of Haman to destroy the Jewish people is now revealed to King Achashverosh. In verse 1, King Achashverosh and Haman arrived to the banquet. We read, so the king and Haman came to the banquet with Esther the queen. Well, they were rushing to come to Queen Esther. She specially prepared this banquet. And that banquet in Hebrew is the word Mishte. And mishteh means a time where they drink. Mishteh, they drink and eat. Mishteh has to do with feasting and celebrating. And especially it comes from the word lishtot in Hebrew, which means to drink.

Alcohol was galore in those days. There was drinking. And every time you find this king celebrating and having special gatherings, it always has to do with drinking. He began it in the first chapter, and we find it again. So Esther knows what he likes, so she prepared for him the banquet, the time where he can enjoy himself. Now notice, brothers and sisters, in verse 2, we find that King Ahasuerus once again asking Esther, Esther, what is troubling you? What do you have on your heart? You notice that he said in verse 2, and the king said again unto Esther, on the second day, at the banquet of the wine, notice the banquet of the wine, the banquet of the one, the mishteh, what is thy petition, Queen Esther?

And it shall be granted thee, and what is thy request? And it shall be performed even to the half of the kingdom. The king was ready to answer Esther. He knew that there was something troubling her. And so he wanted her to already ask him this question, and he made a promise. Look at these, brothers and sisters. He says, what is thy petition? And I promise you, Esther, it shall be granted unto you. You will receive what you ask. What is your request? It shall be performed. He gave her an assurance that he will do for her anything she asks. And you notice he says that even to the half of the kingdom.

If you remember the passage in the Gospel of Mark in chapter 6, it was Herod he himself promised to Herodiah's daughter who danced before him because he liked her whatever you will ask me I will give it to you he said even to the half of the kingdom and you remember what she asked from him because her mother tell her you better ask from the king the head of Yohanan Hamadbil John the baptizer and indeed if you remember The king promised and he fulfilled and he ended up killing this servant of God by the name of Yohanan, John, and he cut off his head because of the wickedness of the request of Herodiah who hated so much John the baptizer because he testified that it was not right for her and for him to live together because she belonged to another.

And so we find out that the king, Achashverosh, said the same. What is thy request? What is thy petition? It will be granted unto you even to the half of the kingdom. And so we find out, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next verses, verses 3 and verse 4, that Esther answered the king, Now, finally, she came to the point when she was going to give him the request that she had. And so, notice that. First of all, I want you to know, verse 3 and verse 4, we have five things that Esther is mentioning to King Achashvosh. First of all, in verse 3, she's speaking about herself. Secondly, in verse 4, she's speaking about the king.

Notice three things in verse 3. The first one, if I have found favor in thy sight. Notice that we read that. Then she answered and she said, if I have found favor in thy sight. You see, she knew very well that the king loved her. And the king, somehow God placed his favor, the king's favor upon Esther. And she asked the king, King, if I, your queen, found favor in your sight, she was appealing to the king on a basis of the fact that she was a blessing to him. If I found favor in your sight. That's the first thing that she was telling to King Achashverosh.

Secondly, notice then, again in verse 3b, again the word if. And if it pleased the king. Notice that. Secondly, she is mentioning here, if it is pleased the king. And now it is so interesting because she was showing to him that she's really intending to have his pleasure, whatever pleased the king. It's not only me, but whatever is benefiting you, the king. And apparently, beloved brothers and sisters, she meant the welfare of the king. And so we read the third point. She's pointing back to herself and she says in this last portion of verse 3, let my life be given me at my petition. And my people at my request.

Now all of a sudden she shared with him and she says, Listen, if I found favor in your side and if it is pleasing to you, give me my life back. But you see, he didn't know anything about the plan that Haman had. He didn't know that his wife was a Jewish young lady. Because already in the earlier chapter, Mordecai, her uncle, told her, do not let anyone know that you are Jewish. And so she kept it as a secret. And now, at a time such as this, because the Jewish people were going to be executed in the month of Adar, and therefore she now had the opportunity to seek her life and the life of all the people that she belonged to, the Jewish people, to seek to have it back from the king.

And that's why she said, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request. You see, she now was going to ask for the life of all the Jewish people because Haman determined to destroy the Jewish people and to completely do away with the Jewish people. Go please back to chapter 3 for a moment with me So you can see the connection. Already there in the earlier verses, we find out in verse 6, And he sought scorn to lay hands on Mordechai alone, for they had showed him the people of Mordechai. Wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom, of Achashverosh, even the people of Mordechai.

You see, Haman planned it. He actually set up a date in verse 7, we read, in the first month, that is the month of Nisan, and in the twelfth year of King Achashverosh, they cast up poor, that is the lot before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, to the 12th month that is the month of Adar and determine eventually that the month of Adar all Jews are going to be destroyed by Haman and all the people of Persia in fact in chapter 3 and verse 12 we read then were the king's scribes called on the 13th day of the first month And there was written according to all that Haman had commended unto the king's lieutenants and to the governance thereof over every province and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof and to every people after their language in the name of king Achashverosh was it written and it was sealed with the king's ring.

And letters were sent and you notice at the end of verse 13 that upon the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar to take the spoil of them for a prey and ultimately they decided that on the 13th day of the month of Adar all Jews will be killed by the people of Persia and can you imagine what that meant what this meant And so right now, we are back to chapter 7, please. And so we find out the three points that she made in verse 3. If I have found favor in thy sight, she is saying to the king. If it is pleasing to the king, she said the second point.

And thirdly, let my life and let my people's life will be given back unto us. And so can you imagine, the king was puzzled right now. What does that mean, your life? Who want to take your life away? Your people's life? Who want to take your people's life away? And so he was puzzled, beloved brothers and sisters. Notice what it says here in the next verse. It says she's clearly now explaining to him in verse 4 that she and her people were sentenced to death. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed and to be slain and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen, for servants or bondwomen, I wouldn't have speak.

I would have held my tongue. But the enemy could not countervail the king's damage. Unless the king will lose out and he will not receive that which belongs unto him. So you notice verse 4, this is an amazing verse where she says that we are sold, destroyed, slain, and perish. In Hebrew, lehashmid, laharog, veleabad. Those three Hebrew words mean the total destruction of those Jewish people whom Haman have intended to put away completely out of this world. And so she was seeking to maintain the Jewish people and not to allow them to be killed. So she shared this with the king, Achashverosh, when she appealed to him at that moment.

So verses 3 and verse 4 is Esther responds to king Achashverosh. Tell me, what is your request? And it will be performed for you even to the half of the kingdom. Now if you would be there and you would see king Achashverosh, And then you see Esther and Haman there, and Esther is saying to him, King, my husband, I'm now going to lose my life, and my people are going to be killed. We are going to be destroyed. We are going to be slain. We are going to be perished. The king is really amazed. What do you say? Don't I know what is the plan that I have for you?

And so in verse 5 and verse 6, we find out the king's answer to Esther, the queen. He is answering her and he said to her, notice that verse 5, And the king, Achashverosh, answered and he said unto Esther the queen, Who is he? And where is he that dare to presume in his heart to do such a thing? Who is the person? He didn't know, beloved brothers and sisters, that this Haman, this Haman, was planning all this. Oh yeah, we know that he gave him the permission about some people, but he never knew that these people that Haman wanted to destroy, they are people that belong to his own wife, Esther the queen.

And so King Achashverosh says, Who is he and where is that person? It also tells us, brothers and sisters, that this king was not really, you might say, he was careless. Can you imagine to allow one of your servants to come to you and say, Listen, there are a certain group of people that are not valuable for you. I'm just going to destroy those people. And the king gives him the ring. He says, go ahead, do what you wish. You see, he must have been irresponsible, careless. He was maybe, you might say, as some said, he was a selfish man. Only make sure that things are right for him.

Never cared for the people who were under his authority in the world in which he reigned over. And so we find out that he's asking this question in verse 5. Who is this person? By the way, the word for enemy. Who is this enemy in verse 4? The word for enemy comes from the Hebrew word tzar. Tzar means nero. And it comes from the word tzarot. Those of us who know Hebrew tzarot or in Yiddish tzarot, you know, means trouble. That's the root word enemy. There is one that is causing trouble to the Jewish people. And I mentioned that in our previous meetings, that we, as Jewish people, had enemies throughout the whole history of Israel.

In every generation, there is always someone who rises up, who wants to do Satan's work to seek to destroy all the Jewish people. Whether it is Pharaoh, or whether it is Hitler, or whether it is Antiochus, or whether it is any man, even in those days, as I mentioned before, those who seek to destroy the Jewish people. And somehow, by the grace of God, God is preserving the people of Israel for the future day, in which he is planning to restore them and to make them a nation of blessing to the world. And it is also the same thing with the body of Messiah, the church.

Jesus the Messiah said in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my assembly, my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. People try to destroy the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. Persecution of believers everywhere in this world. And yet God is sustaining, preserving these people even today. Just look what's going on in the Middle East. Just look what's going on in Europe and many other areas in which people want to do away with those who believe in Yeshua, the Messiah. But no one will succeed to destroy those that belong to Yeshua, the Messiah. And so we learn many lessons here, beloved brothers and sisters, and here we are heading now to the doom of the enemies of the Jewish people.

And so we find out here is where Esther was bold enough to point now to this wicked man by the name of Haman. Look at this, and I'm reading now verse 6. Esther point to Haman, the Jew's enemy. Notice that. And Esther said, the adversary and the enemy is this wicked Haman. This word Haman hara, in Hebrew wicked is ra, evil, this wicked man by the name of Haman. Finally, she pointed to the man that sought to destroy the Jewish people. Is this wicked man, he is an enemy? Notice that you call him the adversary? The enemy is this wicked man by the name of Haman.

He might be a servant of yours, he might be second to King Ahasuerus, but he was a wicked man who sought to destroy the people of God, the people of Israel. And things, beloved brothers and sisters, from here on, things completely changed. Here is Haman, who up to this point was second to the king. He was the one that anything he wanted, the king will grant him. But now is the time of his doom. And he's going to experience the consequence of his evil doing. And so she pointed to Haman, and she said, here is that man. And you notice how things change, brothers and sisters, immediately in verse 6b, Haman fear and sudden terror.

You know, all of a sudden, things completely change in the life of Haman. We read in verse 6b that then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. Things changed for him in a moment. In a moment. It teaches us a great lesson. You see, when we continue on, when men continue on in his own way, there's a day coming where God is going to deal with that person once and for all. You remember what the Bible teaches us? Be sure your sin will find you out. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap, the Bible teaches us. That's why it's always good for the people of God to acknowledge their weakness and the need of the grace of God and not to walk in pride to think I don't need God, I don't need anyone, I'm the captain of my ship, I'm the pilot of my plane, I can do my own thing, I don't need anyone.

One day God is going to deal with those who oppose him. And not only oppose him, oppose his plan. Oppose his program. You see, the Jewish people are not better than any other nation in the world. But God has a program and a plan for Israel, the nation. He promised to Abraham, Those that bless thee, I will bless, and him that curse thee, I will curse. And you can see, beloved brothers and sisters, that Haman, who sought to destroy the Jewish people, now things change. He's no longer happy to do his own thing, planning to destroy Mordechai, setting up a huge tree ready now to hang Mordechai carelessly put fear upon thousands and thousands of Jewish people saying listen on the 13th day of the month of Adar you are all going to be destroyed.

But now his turn has arrived and the table changed. So we find out that Esther pointed to him all of a sudden a terror came into his heart. He is no longer the same man who was previously before he came into the banquet. He is now in fear. He is there before the king and the queen. I want you to turn to the book of Proverbs for a moment. Proverbs chapter 6. Look what we read there. In verse 12, a naughty person, a wicked man, Walk with a forward mouth or a corrupt mouth. He winketh with his eyes. He speaketh with his feet. He points with his fingers.

Forwardness or he plot evil is in his heart. He devises mischief continually. He soweth discord. Now notice verse 15. What Shlomo, the king of Israel, is saying. Therefore shall his calamity come. Suddenly, suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. You see, Haman, you know, he's the one that was a haughty person. He's the one that was a wicked man. He's the one that walked with a corrupt mouth and said what he said and did what he did. But sooner or later, in due time, in God's providence, His judgment day will come. If you go back to chapter 5 of the book of Proverbs, and notice what we read in verse 21.

For the ways of men are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly, he shall go astray. Well, beloved brothers and sisters, this is exactly what we learn in Scripture. Here's a man that didn't care for a moment of God's plan, of God's things. He didn't care of the Jewish people, of the people of Israel, and he sought to destroy them. And the time come, and all of a sudden, we find him in a sudden fear, sudden terror that fell upon him.

And so quickly, beloved brothers and sisters, notice that. In the next verses, verses 7, 8, 9, and 10, we find Haman's final doom, the doom of Haman, this wicked man who plotted to destroy the people of Israel. So we read, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 7, he now began to beg for his life. You see, he was ready to destroy the Jewish people and he cared nothing about it. He was willing to pay so much money to the king just that he will get his own way. But now in verse 7, notice that the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath. He went into the palace garden and Haman stood up to make requests for his life to Esther the queen.

For he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. You know, two things we find out in verse 7, beloved brothers and sisters. First of all, the king, when he heard that a man who was seeking to destroy his wife, the queen, to kill her and her people, is Haman, he couldn't stay in the same place. He went quickly out to the palace garden and he was pondering. He says, wait a minute, I can just imagine. He probably was saying, in chapter 3, in verse 1, I promoted Haman. I gave him a great position to be the greatest leaders in the Persian Empire. In verse 10 of chapter 3, I gave him my ring.

And I allowed him to use my ring to do whatsoever he will. I trusted him. Then later on in chapter 3, he said, I committed everything to him so he would be able to take any action he wanted. In chapter 6 and on, Haman, if you remember, came to the palace and he asked from the king to give to the man whom the king desired to honor, to give him the clothes he wears, the horse he rides on, and the crown he wears. And he perhaps was pondering, and he says, wait a minute. I had a man in the midst, and he is the one who sought to do things against me.

He is the one who turned around and actually usurped my place and my position and sought to run things in his own way. He was so angry, he couldn't stay there. He went to Ponder in the palace garden once he found out through Queen Esther that it was Haman. But while the king goes out to Ponder, look what we find out about Haman. He's begging for his life. You see, it says here in verse 7b, and Haman stood up to make requests for his life to Esther the queen for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. Now it is so interesting that the man who was ready to kill everybody all the Jewish people now he began to beg for his very own life.

Again we learn from Scripture that the Lord is always teaching us that one has to be extremely careful recognizing that we cannot just carry on and do our own thing and determine our own thing because one day we are going to stand before God. The day of judgment will come one day and brothers and sisters listen it's not only for unbelievers who have to accept the Messiah because if they reject the Messiah today they will have to stand before him one day. Today he's offering himself as the Lamb of God who gave himself for the sin of this world but one day he's going to be the liar of the tribe of Judah in the great white throne judgment where all those who refuse to accept him will end up to be judged for time and for eternity.

But not only for the unbelievers, even for us. One day we are going to stand before the judgment seat of the Messiah. And the Lord will evaluate, how did we live our lives? And we will have to our shame many times to say, Lord, I failed you in so many ways. And to repent before him, but of course our salvation is secure, not because of any good deed that we have done, but because of what Yeshua has done for us. So it teaches us an amazing lesson. All of a sudden now he asks, please keep me alive. Speak to the king, I beg you. He saw that there was determination of the king to destroy him, as it says here at the end of verse 7, that there was an evil determined against him by the king.

So he beseeched hell for his life. So the table have turned. Things are completely different right now. And so finally, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse 8, we have Haman's doing when the king came. Notice what it says. Then the king returned from the palace garden into the banquet of the wine. And what happened? What does he see? He sees now Haman falling upon the bed where Esther was. Can you imagine? He was begging here. He fell there on his knees, you might say, please speak to the king that he will not kill me, that he will not do away with me. And imagine when the king comes from outside, what does he see?

Notice that it says, when the king came in, he says, will he force the queen also before me in the house? In other words, he came in, what does he see? He see him begging her on the bed there, he's on his knees there, beseeching her, seeking from her, to help him and so what the king assumed the king assumed that he's forcing his wife he's forcing the queen notice that he says will he force the queen also before me in the house the king was extremely angry when he came in and you notice that it says here as the king word went forth out of his mouth they cover Haman's face you see what happened when the servant of the king heard what the king was saying will he also force the queen in my house immediately the servants knew that that's the end of Haman they took something they covered his head never anymore to see king Achashverosh.

That was the response of the king to what Haman, when he heard what Haman has planned to do again. Brothers and sisters, I would like to remind you that all this happened when the king up to this point never knew that his wife was a Jewish girl. She kept it away from him. Now finally she said to him, I and my people, he understood that these are the people the Jewish people that haman wanted to destroy and so in verses 9 and verse 10 we have first of all the suggestion of the servant of king achashverosh his name is harbona you find his name mentioned in chapter 1 verse 10 he was one of the closest servants to king achashverosh he said, notice what he suggests to the king he says here, behold also the gallo fifty cubits high which Haman had made for Mordecai who had spoken good for the king standeth in the house of Haman in other words he was saying there is a big tall gallo etz in Hebrew, a tree it's remained behind in the house of Haman He prepared that tree in order to kill Mordechai, the Jew, who has saved you, king.

Here is an opportunity to use that tree instead of Mordechai to be hanged. Haman was going to be hung on that very tree. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, the king said in verse 9, Hang him their own. Look at the statement of the king. Hang him their own. So he gave the command to hang Haman there, and so it says in verse 10, and this is the conclusion here, the doom of Haman in verse 10, they hang Haman on the gallow that he had prepared for Mordechai, and then was the king's wrath pacified. He then finally had peace after he hanged Haman. You know, it is an amazing story that we read here.

This is not only actually a story, it's happened in history, in the history of this world, how the man that sought to destroy the Jewish people eventually find himself hanging on the very same tree that he prepared for Mordechai, the Jew. Now, I want to conclude with one or two remarks. What's the lesson it is for us here? There is a great lesson for us here in this passage, in this seventh chapter. I'll make one or two points. The first thing that I would like to mention is this. This chapter teaches us that we as believers at times are not where we should be. We are not always close to the Lord.

We are not always where the Lord set his name there. We are at times scattered and not in a place that the Lord is pleased. But God in his providence, God in his sovereignty, he still watches over his people. He cares for the people of God. He cares for the Jewish people. He cares for them today. He will preserve the people of Israel for the future day. But he cares for you and I. When we are away from the Lord, it's not a blessing for us. We are always going to lose out, find ourselves in a time of difficulties and challenges. And the safest thing for believers is close to the Lord.

That's the first thing that I want to mention. Secondly, we find out that God in his providence is going to accomplish all what he has in mind. Doesn't matter who will rise and who will fall. Eventually, they are here and they are gone. But the people of God will be sustained all the way to the end of the days that God had planned for them. Thirdly, there's a lesson for us because Haman is a picture of the Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah. Do you know that in a future day there will be one that will rise again to seek to destroy the people of Israel? We read about him in Daniel chapter 7 and in Daniel chapter 11 and in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

He's called the wicked king. He's called the counterfeit Messiah. He is called, as we said in English, the Antichrist. A man that will rise up one day in the time of the tribulation where he will claim to be God, to seek, to take the place of the Messiah. And he will also have an end because ultimately God's plan will come to fruition and he will accomplish all what he purposed for himself. And here we see that Haman is a picture of the Antichrist who will rise up in a future day and God ultimately will destroy him and will establish what he had planned for the people of Israel.

I'm going to read two or three verses to conclude in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. If you just turn with me for a moment to there, from verses 5 to 8, let me read these verses for us all. Remember ye not, Paul is saying, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things. And now ye know what withholding or what restraining that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work. Only he who now let will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and he will destroy with the brightness of his coming even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and sign and lying wonders See the Apostle Paul taking us over the ages, anticipating the coming of the counterfeit Messiah who will ultimately be destroyed by the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

That wicked one will be revealed one day, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Jesus, the Messiah, hasn't come as yet, but he will come. And he will destroy those that oppose him, and specifically in the context of 2 Thessalonians, the one that is called the counterfeit Messiah, whom he will ultimately destroy, just like God destroyed that wicked man by the name of Haman. May the Lord help us to grasp this, to understand it, to appreciate the Word of God and stay close to the person of Yeshua the Messiah.