Episode 20, Queen Esther Series –"A Defeated Tyrant" 2025 Podcast "Stay in His Presence"

In today's episode, we will learn how a tyrant and tyranny were ultimately defeated. We will consider how fear plays into success or failure. Then we will ask what price must sometimes be paid to defeat evil. Finally, what special tools does God give us to prevail over tyranny? 

Last week, we left you with a challenge: Did you think about how to change your tomorrow? If so, thank you for taking the challenge. We also ended the episode with Haman being taken away to the second banquet Queen Esther planned, at which only he and King Ahasuerus (aka King Xerxes) were guests. Haman had an opportunity to change his tomorrow before the second banquet. We find out today whether he changed his tomorrow for the better.

(This is a rebroadcast from the Queen Esther Series, Episode 7, The Book of Esther, Chapter 7, September 19, 2020.)

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Transcript

Transcript for Episode 20, Rebroadcast from the Queen Esther Series,  “A Defeated Foe" – 2025 Podcast "Stay in His Presence" 

In today’s presentation, we will explore the following questions: How is a tyrant and tyranny ultimately defeated? How does fear play into success or failure? What price must sometimes be paid to defeat evil? What special tools does God give us to prevail over tyranny? My name is Stephanie Wright. Let’s get started on today’s episode.

Hello. We are celebrating five years of podcasting in 2025 by revisiting our archives and rebroadcasting select episodes since June 20, 2020.  

Last week we left you with a challenge: Did you think about how to change your tomorrow? We also ended the episode with Haman being taken away to the second banquet Queen Esther planned at which only he and King Ahasuerus were guests. Haman had an opportunity to change his tomorrow before the second banquet. For those who are new to the study, here’s a brief background leading up to today’s presentation. Haman was an enemy to the Jewish people who lived in Medo-Persia and he had put in place a plan to kill all the Jews on the 13th day of the month of Adar. He hated Mordecai who was a Jew but he did not realize Mordecai was Queen Esther’s cousin and thus she was also a Jew. Mordecai persuaded Queen Esther, his cousin and his foster daughter, to go to the king and beg for the lives of her people. When Queen Esther presented herself to the king to make her request, the king told her he would give her up to half his kingdom (a kingdom that spread from Africa to India, 44% of the then known world) but Queen Esther instead said she wanted him and Haman, the king’s chief prince, to come to a banquet. At the first banquet, she still did not tell the king what she really wanted, that is, to spare the lives of her people, instead she invited the king and Haman to a second banquet. Remember, Haman still had an opportunity to tell King Ahasuerus that he had lied to him about the Jewish people being his enemy. This was how Haman persuaded the king to sign the edict for all Jews in Medo-Persia be killed. So, what will Haman do? We begin at the second banquet, starting at Chapter 7, verses 1 to 3, of the Book of Esther. 

“So, the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.”

“And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.”

So, now the request finally comes out.  And again, I always get tickled when Esther says “if” she has found favor because she knows full-well she has.  If a man is going to offer half of this wealth to you, that much wealth, you know you have found favor in his sight.  This king knew he had a good queen.

Another point to be made, the king offered her up to half his kingdom, but Queen Esther, despite being able to be the richest woman in the world, does not think of herself but thinks of her people, the Jewish people.  Again, Queen Esther’s concern is only for them as we see in the following verses.

Verse 3. “Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:”

 Verse 4. “For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.” 

 Esther breaks down to the king what is about to happen to not just her people, but to the woman the king loves, to the king’s queen.  If he loved her the way it appears, he loves her, to take her life is like taking his life.  To threaten to destroy her is like threatening to destroy him; to threaten to slay her, is to threaten to slay him; to threaten to wipe her out is to threaten to wipe him out.  “ . . . countervail the king’s damage” (in other words, the money Haman paid into to the treasury cannot begin to compensate you for the loss of income you would continue to receive if the Jewish people were still living and paying taxes into your treasury). 

Verse 5. Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?”

Okay, here it is.  Last chance Haman!  Are you going to get the message and fall on your knees and beg forgiveness of the king for what you planned to do back in Chapter 3?  Are you going to repent and tell the king all those lies you told back in Chapter 3, about the Jewish people, were just that, lies? What are you going to do? Nope, no repentance, pride, and at this point fear have such a grip on him, he probably cannot say a word.  That is the problem with not repenting when you can repent, the longer you wait, the more difficult it becomes to repent.  By the time you want to repent, something else enters in that holds you back from repenting.  In Haman’s case, it surely would be fear and shock of hearing Esther calling the Jewish people, “her people.”  So very important to repent when it first comes to mind.  Verse 6. “And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.”

She calls him just as he is, the “adversary” and the “enemy.”  Then as I just said earlier, fear took ahold to Haman.  He feared not only the king but the queen as well.  Let’s talk here about fear.  There is good fear and there is bad fear.  Good fear is the type of reverent fear that we have for God. Bad fear is what our adversary tries to put in our hearts that is not of God (God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7.) Whenever you have fear of man, or fear of what man may do to you, especially when God has already ordained something in your life, that is not the type of fear you should give in to. Verse 7. ”And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath went into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.” Not surprising that Haman would recognize “evil” in the king. After all, he had already plotted evil, that is, a mass slaughter of the Jews in Medo-Persia. So, he should recognize evil when he sees it. Verse 8. “Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.” 

Haman repented but repented much too late.  Remember, the people in Medo-Persia did not have dining room tables as we have.  They reclined on beds and ate.  So, poor Haman goes over to beg for his life from Queen Esther but the position he is in is misconstrued by the king as not one of begging for his life, but one of trying to force himself on the queen.  Or, perhaps, he stumbled on the way to beg for his life and fell on the queen. Even worse! My goodness, it goes from bad to worse for Haman! Verse 9. ”And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.”

Verse 10. “So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.” So, now the gallows that were built for Mordecai are now to be used to hang Haman. The tables have truly turned on Haman. 

I said in an earlier episode, there is a saying about digging ditches. I changed a bit and said, “If you dig one ditch, you better dig two because one is for the devil and the other is for you.” This is what happened to Haman. He dug a ditch for Mordecai and the Jews living in Medo-Persia, a plan to kill all of them including the children, but he ended up being the one who was killed. Even more compelling is the fact that he built the gallows in his own backyard for Mordecai and Haman ended up being hung on those very gallows. 

Haman was blinded by fear and that fear kept him from doing the right thing. Repenting of lying to the king about the Jewish people. But fear is another topic for another episode we hope to address. Suffice it to say, we should not be so overcome with fear that we do not recognize it and respond appropriately. Unlike Haman, as believers, we know God does not give the spirit of fear but of love, power, and a sound mind. 

Finally, I would like to address one other thing about this chapter, King Ahasuerus’s offering to Queen Esther half of his kingdom. This is my Keys to the Kingdom Commentary. I am here today to tell you that the earthly king, King Ahasuerus, only offered to give Esther half of his 127 provinces, half of his gold, jewels, riches, and wealth but our King, King Jesus, our God, the God of all gods, our Lord and Master has agreed to give us the entire kingdom.  Jesus said in Matthew 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
 
What are the Keys to the Kingdom?  The keys are whatever we need to serve God in the kingdom.  My keys are not your keys, her keys are not your keys, his keys are not your keys.  Your keys are “your” keys that Jesus gave to you to serve in the kingdom. 

Some of us laid the keys down for whatever reason.  Maybe we did not want to do what Esther did, be willing to lay down our lives.  Esther did not get the offer of half the kingdom until she decided she was going to die if necessary.  How badly do you want the keys to the kingdom? It will mean sacrifice.  It will mean trusting God for every situation.  It means really knowing that you know, He is God and He is in control of everything in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  

Some keys are unknown because we are growing and maturing into new seasons in our lives as we grow older. Some of the keys don’t have labels on them because He, Jesus, is waiting for us to put the label on it.  He wants us to tell him what we need to do the kingdom work.

In conclusion, we asked three questions at the beginning of this episode. Our first question: How is a tyrant and tyranny ultimately defeated? In this case, it was through prayer, fasting, and Esther's wisdom in knowing how to approach the king with her request to save her people. She was wise and very methodical. She did not rush into the request. She had not one banquet, but two. It reminds me of that old saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Our second question: How does fear play into success or failure? If Esther had not overcome her fear of going to the king, she would never have requested that her people's lives be spared, but she would also not have been offered half the kingdom. So, fear can hold us back from our blessings. Don’t give in to it-fear that is-because if it is not godly fear, it is not of God. And our third question: What price must sometimes be paid to defeat evil? In Esther’s case, it could have been her life, but she was willing to make that sacrifice for the love of her people. But Esther did not stop there; she was also willing to give up her status as one of the wealthiest women in Medo-Persia. When the king offered her half his kingdom, she didn’t say, “I’ll take it.” No, she said, “Come to two banquets and I will tell you what my petition and request is.” Finally, what special tools does God give us to prevail over tyranny? He has given us the keys to the kingdom —everything we need to defeat tyranny and its tyrants; he has put them in our hands. We just need to acknowledge that Jesus has given us the power because He has given us the keys!

So, we end this episode learning the true meaning of love, sacrifice, power, victory, and prevailing over the enemy. Next week, we will return to the theme of favor and blessings. We are going to talk about victory, warfare, and the blessings God bestowed on Esther, especially on Mordecai. And we will see how we, too, are favored and blessed through obedience and trusting in God. 

Join us next time as we conclude our study of Queen Esther. 

Now, let's go to Dr. Apostle Charles Wright for details on how you may access other episodes and contact us. 

Closing.