Est 7:1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther,

Est 7:2 and as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

‘Suspense builds up as the king puts his question a third time to Queen Esther. There is nothing of the informality of the previous occasion, and in reply Esther addressed her husband using his royal titles, and courtly phrases.’ (NBC)

Est 7:3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life–this is my petition. And spare my people–this is my request.

Est 7:4 For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

The very language of the decree is used here by Esther, cf. 3:13.

Est 7:5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

Est 7:6 Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman.” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Est 7:7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

Est 7:8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

Est 7:9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”

Est 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai

Reaping What We Sow (Esther 7:9-10)

“The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead” (Prov. 11:8, NKJV). The conspicuous gallows that Haman had constructed for Mordecai was convenient for the execution of Haman. Therefore, the king used it. Apparently Haman had let it be known in the palace that he planned to kill Mordecai, for the king’s servant knew the purpose of the gallows. In his pride, Haman had boasted too much; and his words came back not only to haunt him but also to help slay him. The day before, Haman had led Mordecai through the streets dressed in royal splendor; but now Haman was led through the streets with a covering over his face and a gallows at the end of the journey. Certainly Haman’s wife Zeresh and their ten sons witnessed the execution, as did many of the Jews in the city. It must have given courage to the Jews to know that their enemy Haman was no longer on the scene. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked,” warned Paul. “A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7, NIV). Haman sowed anger against Mordecai, and he reaped anger from the king. Haman wanted to kill Mordecai and the Jews, and the king killed Haman. “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same” (Job 4:8, KJV). “He who sows wickedness reaps trouble” (Prov. 22:8, NIV). This unchanging principle of sowing and reaping is illustrated throughout the Bible, and it applies to both believers and unbelievers. Jacob killed an animal and lied to his father, pretending to be Esau (Gen. 27:1-29); and years later Jacob’s sons killed an animal and lied to him, pretending that Joseph was dead (37:31-35). Pharaoh gave orders to drown the Jewish baby boys (Ex. 1), and one day his army was drowned in the Red Sea (Ex. 14-15). David secretly took his neighbor’s wife and committed adultery (2 Sam. 11), and David’s own son Absalom took his father’s concubines and openly committed adultery with them (16:20-23). Furthermore, David’s daughter Tamar was raped by her half brother Amnon (2 Sam. 13). David killed Bathsheba’s husband (11:14-25), and three of David’s own sons were slain: Absalom (2 Sam. 18), Amnon (13:23-36), and Adonijah (1 Kings 2:13-25). Saul of Tarsus encouraged the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1); and when he became Paul the missionary, he was stoned at Lystra (14:19-20). But let’s keep in mind that this law of sowing and reaping also applies to doing what is good and right. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption; but if we sow to the Spirit, we reap life everlasting (Gal. 6:8). No good deed done for the glory of Jesus Christ will ever be forgotten before God. No loving word spoken in Jesus’ name will ever be wasted. If we don’t see the harvest in this life, we’ll see it when we stand before the Lord. Even a cup of cold water given in the name of Christ will have its just reward (Matt. 10:42; 25:31-46).