Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews – Esther 8:23
Have you ever met someone who just knew how to make all the right moves, say the right thing at the right time? Esther was one of those people, her timing and her strategy were impeccable, and these qualities were instrumental in her being able to prohibit the mass slaughter of the Jews that Haman had planned.
Haman thought he had an airtight plan, but he was no match for the shrewd Esther. Fast forward, Hamon walked right into Esther’s set-up and was sentenced to death by the king for his intended crimes against God’s people on the same gallows he had erected for Mordecai. Let that be a warning to all as Yahweh said, “He who touches His people touches the apple of His eye” (see Zechariah 2:8)
Although Haman was dead, his evil plan was still in effect. The edict he had written in the king’s name to exterminate the Jews had gone forth, and according to Persian law it could not be directly recalled or reversed and therefore was still in force (Esther 8:8). Queen Esther therefore rose to the occasion another time and made a powerful plea to her husband, the king, to annul the plan of Haman against the Jews – Esther 8:3; 5-6.
Now Esther spoke again to the king, fell down at his feet, and implored him with tears to counteract the evil of Haman the Agagite, and the scheme which he had devised against the Jews… If it pleases the king, and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to annihilate the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. For how can I endure to see the evil that will come to my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my countrymen?”
Of course, the king answered Esther’s request by granting her permission to write a decree that would override the former one written by Haman, sealed it with his signet ring and therefore in effect ‘cancelled’ what the wicked Haman had planned. But notice how she approached the king, she went to her husband, and fell at his feet and made this strong request!
What a powerful image, the queen at the feet of her husband the king, making a request. Esther knew the protocol of the kingdom; she knew what attracted the attention of the king.
You and I have a King to whom we can go to and worship at His feet and there receive permission and power to override the plan of the enemy. Am I saying that the Lord wants us to bow and grovel at His feet? Not at all. But when we bow in worship, we are acknowledging Him as the only One who has the power to change the perplexing, seemingly impossible situations we face. There, we are acknowledging His sovereignty and that moves His heart.
Haman is a picture of how the devil was conquered and defeated at the cross of Jesus Christ. However, his evil plans still linger over the lives of many, and so we like Esther go to our King in worship. There we are empowered so that we can enforce the victory and bring his plans to a halt in the lives of those whom he is afflicting.
© Linda P. Jones
