Esther 5:4
And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
The invitation belongs to the reign of Ahasuerus, at the time of Haman's plot to destroy God's people. Medo-Persia was the second head of the Satan-controlled beast system of government, and through it Satan attempted to destroy all of God's people. Through Haman he sought to exterminate the woman, the people through whom the Man-child should come, but God frustrated his purpose and preserved them for the coming of the promised Man Child.
Esther met this perplexing danger with tact, diplomacy, intercession, and faith to prevail with the king, and her inviting of the king and Haman to a banquet was part of that appeal. After fasting and praying she used the king's favorable response to invite him and Haman to a banquet she had prepared, rather than immediately revealing her request to save herself and her people. Her measured invitation delayed disclosure until the right occasion, as Providence guided events toward their deliverance. Her inviting of the king and Haman is compared with the church party's being called to the banquet while still demanding Mordecai's death, pointing to Haman's demand being granted and bringing about the result that followed his own demand.