The secrets the state discovers and keeps to itself about another nation, or about presumed threats within its borders may be necessary kept for the safety of its loyal citizens. Conspiracies to destroy others, however, is another matter entirely, and this is especially so, if the presumed “enemy” poses no threat to the conspirator. The Lord forbids anyone, even any nation, to conspire against the innocent. He is even against conspiracies against one’s enemies (Leviticus 19:14). The key to right living is to separate oneself from the evil practices of others, which includes that of other nations (Leviticus 19:2; cp. Exodus 19:6).
The servant of the Lord is commanded to imitate the Lord, his God. If the Lord reveals something about himself, he does so for the sake of his children, or his nation, so they would imitate him (Leviticus 11:44-45). In other words, it is not for us to behave as our neighbors or even as our enemies behave, and this includes how other nations behave. Instead, we are to act in such a manner that points others (including other nations) to the God we serve.
We left off our previous study with Haman being summoned by the king to go with him to the banquet that Esther, the queen, had prepared (Esther 6:14). So, both he and Ahasuerus, the king, came to the banquet that the queen had prepared for them (Esther 7:1). After the main part of the banquet, and during the banquet of wine, when the king was “heated with wine,”[1] he asked Esther once more: “What is the petition of queen Esther?” Once more he added in hyperbole the extent of his generosity he wished to bestow upon the queen (Esther 7:2)
According to the text, the queen asked the king to save both her life and that of her countrymen. She also told him that she wouldn’t have made such a request, if she and her brethren had been sold as slaves. Moreover, as a point to consider, the wealth promised the king could never compensate for what would be due him, if he permitted her and her countrymen to live (Esther 7:3-4). Esther’s request of the king was both humble and dangerous to mention, for Ahasuerus had made a judgment in the kingdom that could not be reversed, according to the laws of the Medes and the Persians (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15; cp. Esther 8:8; 3:8-15). Moreover, her request came in opposition to one of the king’s most trusted servants. Unless the king were merciful toward the queen, she had submitted her life for the king to take, because she revealed to him and to Haman that she was a Jew, and one of the people of the nation they had reckoned to destroy.
Immediately, Ahasuerus angerly asked who the person might be who dared to conspire to do such a thing to his queen, for the king was ignorant both of Esther’s nationality and of the nation that Haman, with the king’s permission, conspired to destroy (Esther 7:5; cp 3:8-15). Then the queen pointed to Haman and identified him as the conspirator who sought to slay both herself and her countrymen, for she was a Jewess. Therefore, Haman became afraid for his life, for he hadn’t known Esther was a Jew until that very moment (Esther 7:6; cp. 2:10, 20).
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[1] So the Vulgate, according to Adam Clarke’s Commentary at Esther 7:2.
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