A CAREFUL PLOT UNFOLDS!

Esther’s desire to keep herself safe so her people might be saved gets fulfilled. She really does come across here as a very intelligent woman. The quietly obedient woman of 2:20 seems to have come into her own! She devises a slow and steady approach, knowing that intriguing the king by stringing out her real request would make him all the more eager to find the answer and grant the request. Aware of his enjoyment of parties, she prepares food and drink. She invites Haman to this preliminary banquet, so that his presence at the second, more significant, meal would not be seen as surprising. The king is put in a good mood by the banquet invitation and has already pretty much decided that he will do whatever it is that Esther will ask. The writer’s ongoing presentation of the king is not positive. He is easily persuadable, and he reacts to praise and gifts rather than thinking diplomatically or even thinking much at all! But Esther knows this and uses it to her advantage.

So what are we to learn from this little section? Is it that coming straight to the point is not always the best way forward? Is it that clear thinking is likely to overcome self-indulgent passivity? Is it that using worldly methods is sometimes a good way to achieve our aims? Maybe all of the above are good lessons to note, but the only way to assess God’s attitude to what is going on here is to depend upon our knowledge of his attitude toward Israel’s behavior in other contexts. There is not even a stray editorial comment to guide us. Again, this narrative challenges us—and leaves us with some homework to do!

Lord, events are again clear but the reasons they are recorded are not. Help us listen to what Your Word might actually be saying to us in our particular situations.