King Ahasuerus welcomes Esther into the court. She then requests for the king and Haman to attend a feast that day. At the feast she asks if they would join her again the next night for a banquet where she will present her request.
Haman goes home and brags to his wife and friends about his riches, his promotion, and his position in the kingdom. However, Haman can’t enjoy all of his success bc his eye is still on that one person, Mordecai, who refuses to bow down to him. So Haman’s wife and friends come up with an idea to have gallows built for Mordecai to be hanged on it.
Little does Haman know that the king is up late reviewing the book of the records that same night. This is when the king realizes that Mordecai was never rewarded for the time he saved his life. So the next day the king asks Haman, “What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?” Haman, thinking the king was talking about him, suggests letting the man to be honored wear the royal robe and parade him around the city on the king’s horse. And as Haman suggested, Mordecai is paraded around the city in the king’s robe and on the king’s horse by…guess who??…yep, Haman! 😬
Then that evening, at the banquet, Esther tells the king of Haman’s evil plot to kill her and her people. When King Ahasuerus hears this he has Haman hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai and Mordecai is given Haman’s position in the kingdom. Wow, quite the turn of events in lives of Haman and Mordecai. Haman, who had it all, wrecked his life all because he couldn’t let go of the one person who wouldn’t bow down to him. And Mordecai, who remained faithful to the Lord, is honored and elevated.
Well now that Mordecai is in power, he orchestrates a new decree that goes out permitting the Jews “to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them.” So the Jews are joyful and “many people of the land became Jews because fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
The Jews have great victory over their enemies and Mordecai writes letters to all the province of King Ahasuerus saying “they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, as the days on which the Jews have rest from their enemies, as the mark which was turned from sorrow to joy for them…” and this annual celebration is called Purim, after the name Pur which means lots (Haman cast lots to decide the day to destroy the Jews).
Tomorrow Ezra leads the second wave of captives home to Jerusalem. Keep reading.
(Esther 5:1-10:3)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 