The Feast Of Purim Series

The King meets Esther after a year’s worth of beauty preparation with fine perfumes, oils, and cosmetics, and the text says that she found great favor with the King. He fell in love, she was more beautiful than all of the other girls in the harem and He made her his Queen.

Now the plot thickens. This is just about the time that they cut to commercial in the soap operas! It turns out that there is a plot to assassinate the King and Mordecai discovers the plot, tells Esther, who tells the king and the conspirators are hanged at the order of the King, who is thrilled and gives Mordecai great honor in the King’s court.

So now, what the Lord has done is to position two Jewish people, two unlikely candidates into positions of great power in the kingdom. Never underestimate what God can do with little ol’ me. May I further suggest that we ought never to underestimate what God can do with little ol’ anybody. God does what He does!

In comes Haman. He is a man of great power and influence in the King’s court. In fact his power is second only the king in all of the land. Whenever anyone saw Haman they were to, as the text says, “Bow down and pay honor” to him. In reality this meant that they were to show something resembling worship to Haman. Mordecai had chosen to stay in the land where he had been brought as a captive, though now free, but he remained a devout follower of God and would in no way commit idolatry in this way.

When Haman realizes that Esther’s cousin, Mordecai will not pay homage to him because of his Jewish faith and godliness, he develops a plan. He goes to the King and tricks him into giving him permission to eradicate the Jews living in his kingdom. Haman tells the King that he will rid the kingdom of a pesky group of people who refuse to pay homage to the king and his court. The king unwittingly agrees, not knowing that his new queen is a Jew or even that the people who Haman seeks to destroy are the Israelites in the land.

Late one night the king is troubled in his sleep and awakes. In his absurd pride he has men of his court read to him the annals of his victories and glories. As they read, they recount the story of Mordecai destroying the plot on the king’s life. The king realizes that he had never properly honored Mordecai for this.

A little while later the unwitting Haman, the man who had tricked the king into giving him permission to destroy the Jews, comes into the court as the King asks him what should be done for a man who has brought honor to the king. Haman’s pride speaks for him and he tells the king that man should be paraded in the king’s robe through town. Are you getting the picture?

If this were a soap opera it would be called pride cometh before the fall!

He tells him to do this for Mordecai who saved his life and Haman does as he is told. Later Haman goes home and tells everyone in his family what has happened and they tell him certainly he cannot follow through on his plan. Then Haman heads back to the palace only to be present as Esther begs the king to save her life and the life of her people; the Jews. The unwitting king asks what she is talking about. When she explains Haman’s plot the king becomes so angry that he orders Haman hanged on the very gallows that Haman had ordered built for the destruction of Mordecai, whom he despised for his faithfulness to God.