An Invitation to Justice
It was quiet that morning. Too quiet.
I stood at the king’s gate as I always did, though today the air held tension — like something sacred was about to break open.
The second banquet had been arranged.
Esther had delayed her request once before, but this time, I sensed… it would happen.
The silence behind the palace walls was not empty — it was full.
Full of purpose.
Full of weight.
Three at the Table
The queen, the king, and the enemy — Haman.
I imagined them seated under golden arches, the wine sweet, the tension thicker than oil.
Xerxes, amused and curious.
Esther, composed, radiant, resolute.
Haman, still glowing from a parade he hadn’t expected but clinging to hope that his place at this table meant power.
They ate.
They drank.
Then came the question — again:
“What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you — even up to half the kingdom.”
And this time, she answered.
The Hidden Revealed
I learned later how she did it.
With no trembling in her voice, no tears in her eyes. Only truth.
“If I have found favor in your eyes, O king… and if it pleases you, grant me my life — and the lives of my people. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and annihilated…”
Silence.
Then a question — sharp and shaken.
“Who is he? Where is the man who dared to do such a thing?”
And then, the dagger in her words:
“The adversary and enemy is… this vile Haman.”
The Face of a Doomed Man
What must it have looked like?
Haman’s eyes flicking between Esther and the king.
Realization dawning like a cold sun.
He had not simply offended a man.
He had condemned the queen’s people.
He had tried to kill the very woman seated beside him.
The king rose in fury, stormed into the garden.
And Haman — pitiful, desperate — fell before Esther to beg for mercy.
But even that became his undoing.
A Plea Turned to Judgment
The king re-entered the room to find Haman on the queen’s couch.
The anger that followed was swift and final.
“Will he even assault the queen while she is with me in the house?” he cried.
And the guards — who know when the wind has shifted — covered Haman’s face before another word was spoken.
The man who ordered gallows was now condemned to them.
The Gallows Reversed
And then I heard it — perhaps a servant retelling it too quickly, too loudly:
“Haman built gallows fifty cubits high — meant for Mordecai the Jew.”
The king turned.
“Hang him on it,” he said.
A Quiet End to a Loud Man
I did not cheer when I heard of his death.
There was no celebration in my heart.
Only a deep exhale.
God had vindicated.
Not through bloodshed of our making,
but through a banquet, a voice, a revelation.
The enemy was unmasked.
The queen had spoken.
And the tide… had turned.
But One Threat Remained
Haman was dead.
But the decree still lived.
The edict of annihilation still hung over our people like a noose waiting for the thirteenth day of Adar.
And so I did not go home.
I did not return to normal.
I remained at the gate.
Waiting for what would come next.
Because now, we had favor.
Now, Esther had voice.
And now… it was my turn to rise.
