“Hoist with His Own Petard”


Esther 6:14-7:10
14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried to bring Haman to the feast that Esther had prepared. 7:1So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, as they were drinking wine after the feast, the king again said to Esther, “What is your wish, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” 3Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be granted me for my wish, and my people for my request. 4For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have been silent, for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” 5Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who has dared to do this?” 6And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. 7And the king arose in his wrath from the wine-drinking and went into the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm was determined against him by the king. 8And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. And the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the word left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, “Moreover, the gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” 10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the wrath of the king abated.

In 1602, William Shakespeare placed this phrase into the mouth of Hamlet, "For tis the sport to have the enginer hoist with his owne petar". Placed into modern day English, the cliché is now “hoisted with his own petard.” Those are the words that float through my brain every time I read of Haman’s exposure and hanging. A petard is small explosive device used in war to blow up small gates or fences. To be hoisted with one’s own petard is to be the victim of the explosion rather than the master. (I will confess to a long bout of laughter this morning as I researched this phrase. In French “petarr” – same word – refers to flatulence. I will let your imagination take you where it will. My laughter was uncontrollable for several minutes so now you know that these times of devotion are not 100% sanctified. :) )

With that said (and I apologize for any offense) we find that Haman has finally met with justice. Not only has his hate-driven plan to exterminate the Jews been revealed he is also falsely accused of attempting to rape Esther! His fate is sealed and his head immediately is covered (signaling a death sentence) as he is dragged away. The king has acted as judge and jury. He will die instantly on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai. Esther’s bravery has worked and now the king at least knows of the problem. Solving that problem will be challenging, but the story continues to unfold.

Proverbs 26:27 says, “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.” That means that Shakespeare may have coined a phrase, but God conceived the concept. Any evil which we set up may come back to haunt us. Haman dies for his plans born in evil. We too need to be aware of our attempts to seek revenge lest those plans turn back on us. No plainer example than that of Haman could prove this point.

Then comes Jesus Christ and the great reversal. We deserve eternal death for our sins but instead of turning our evil back upon us, Christ bore it to the cross. Now that sin is gone forever and we are no longer victims of our own evil plans. Instead we are the benefactors of God’s grace and mercy. Haman did not look to anyone except himself and his fate was brutal. We look to Jesus and we are saved for heaven.

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