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 my kingdom? It shall be done.” Then Esther answered, “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.” (5:6-8)
Why didn’t Esther answer him? It sounds like the king is incredibly inclined to grant whatever request Esther may have–even up to half the kingdom (which, by the way, is the same thing King Herod promised Herodias’ daughter after she danced before him…the daughter’s intents, however, were not very noble as she asked for the execution of John the Baptist).
It is impossible to know exactly what is going through Esther’s mind but it is obvious from the story that Esther’s request is a very serious matter. The decree to exterminate the Jews has already been put in motion and the law of the Medes and Persians does not change. The options are limited to say the least. And once Esther reveals that she is a Jew, the king’s favor quite possibly will quickly change. Xerxes does not have to hold to his glowing, overexaggerated statement that he will give half the kingdom to Esther. In fact, the only person to really hear this statement is Haman and he certainly isn’t going to hold Xerxes to it. So the stakes are high. Esther is revealing her identity, contradicting Haman, and putting her life in the hands of an emotionally volatile and powerful king. That is why she requests three days of prayer and fasting before even entering Xerxes’ presence.
So why does she fail to answer Xerxes’ question? I think she got scared. In the heat of the moment, the words would not come out. All she can think to do is delay the request one more day. On fourth and one, she punts hoping that the next time she’ll have the courage and the right opportunity to speak (sorry for the football analogy).
Something about that encourages me. It reminds me that the “heroes” of Scripture are not some super-human, faith machines that courageously jump in the fray with full confidence that God will deliver. They were weak individuals, trusting God despite their fear. And in Esther’s case, her momentary loss of courage is actually used by God…as we will see in chapter 6.
It is comforting to know that God can use us despite our fears and even in our fears. We just have to take one day at a time and keep trusting in Him.