Esther (Greek) 7:6-10: a reflection

6Esther said, “The enemy is Haman, this wicked man!” Then Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and the queen. 7The king rose up from the banquet to go into the garden. Haman began to beg the queen for mercy, for he saw that he was in serious trouble. 8The king returned from the garden; and Haman had fallen upon the couch, begging the queen for mercy. The king said, “Will you even assault my wife in my house?” And when Haman heard it, he changed countenance. 9And Bugathan, one of the chamberlains, said to the king, “Behold, Haman has also prepared a gallows for Mordecai, who spoke concerning the king, and a fifty cubit high gallows has been set up on Haman’s property.” The king said, “Let him be hanged on it!” 10So Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was abated.

At Esther's banquet, the queen exposes Haman as the enemy who had plotted to destroy her people. In a swift reversal, Haman, who had built a high gallows on which to hang Mordecai the Jew, is himself condemned; the king orders him hanged on the very gallows he had prepared for another. The instrument of Haman's malice becomes the instrument of his own end. The plot he laid for an innocent man recoiled upon himself.

Notice the reversal, and its justice. Haman had schemed to destroy Mordecai and the Jews, building the gallows in his pride and hatred. And the very thing he prepared for his victim became his own fate. There is an ancient truth pictured here, that those who dig a pit for others often fall into it themselves, that malice has a way of recoiling on its author. The scheme meant for another's destruction became the schemer's own.

That is a sobering and, in its way, reassuring truth about how God governs the world. Evil schemes do not finally prosper; the malice we aim at others has a way of returning on our own heads, and God is able to turn the plots of the wicked back upon themselves. It is a warning against plotting harm, and a comfort to those who suffer under others' schemes: the God of justice can turn the gallows around. Do not scheme harm against others, for such plots recoil. And if you suffer under the malice of others, take heart that God is able to reverse it, as he reversed Haman's gallows, turning the evil back upon its author in his own time.

Lord, Haman was hanged on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai; the plot he laid for an innocent man recoiled upon himself. Teach me the sobering truth pictured here, that malice recoils on its author, that those who dig a pit for others often fall into it themselves. Keep me from ever plotting harm against another, for such schemes return on my own head. And when I suffer under the malice or scheming of others, help me take heart that you are the God of justice, able to turn the plots of the wicked back upon themselves in your own time. You reversed Haman's gallows; help me trust your justice and leave the reversal in your hands.