Esther invites Haman and king Ahasuerus to a banquet for the three.

Esther 5:3-5

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

 “And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!” Esther 5:3

The penalty for entering the king’s inner court without permission was death, but Queen Esther did so after three days of prayer. Mordecai, all the Jewish people, and her servants were praying with her. Her husband, the king, spared her life and pardoned her. He then asked her what she wanted, and her request would be granted. Esther has not yet revealed her Jewish identity to him, but she plans to do so when she makes her request known to the king to save her people from annihilation.

Everyone is welcome to enter the inner courts of God, within the human body, where God invites us without any fear of death. He has made us to be the temple of the Holy Spirit and extends His scepter of eternal life to all who live for Jesus Christ. Jesus does not promise us worldly possessions, pleasures, and comforts, but He gives the Holy Spirit to whoever asks, seeks, and knocks. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened…If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:9-10, 13

When God asks us, “What is your request?”, we ask for Salvation from sin and death that comes through Jesus Christ, we seek the life of Holiness by living for Him, and we knock on the door that leads us to the inner court of the Holy Spirit. God grants us eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ who is coming back.

“So Esther answered, “If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet that I have prepared for him.” Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly, that he may do as Esther has said.” So the king and Haman went to the banquet that Esther had prepared.’ Esther 5:4-5

Esther planned to reveal her Jewish identity and Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jewish people in the presence of both Haman and the king. She invited them to a banquet that she had prepared. The king agreed to her request and summoned Haman, and the three of them sat down together. She planned to reveal her secret at a second banquet the next day, but first she would enjoy a friendly dinner with the two men.

When Jesus Christ walked on this earth, He sat down with the vilest of sinners and leaders of the people for the purpose of not bringing condemnation but to fellowship with them in the Spirit of God. This is similar to the parable of allowing the wheat and the tares to grow together until the day of judgment arrives at the end of time. Click here for the parable of the wheat and tares.

“At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!” Then Esther answered and said, “My petition and request is this: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, then let the king and Haman come to the banquet which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.” Esther 5:6-8

At the first banquet, which was pleasant, warm, and enjoyable, Queen Esther did not reveal her request to the king. She said she would answer his question about what her request was at a banquet the next day, as he had instructed her to do. Meanwhile, Haman was feeling very proud and boastful. He told his people how well he was doing and how the world seemed to favor him. “Moreover Haman said, “Besides, Queen Esther invited no one but me to come in with the king to the banquet that she prepared; and tomorrow I am again invited by her, along with the king.” Esther 5:12 Haman was unaware that the banquet he was looking forward to would end with his execution on the gallows.

Haman’s fate mirrors that of the global culture that lives in blissful ignorance, following the entity that gives them their feelings, thoughts, words, and actions. This entity empowers the image of the beast to live and speak through people in every city around the world. They do not realize that they will be gathered like tares to be burned on the day of judgment. “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” Matthew 13:30 Unfortunately, people around the world conform to the anti-Christian global culture as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they say and do.

---

“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11