“The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was bewildered”
After Mordecai’s reward is overlooked at the end of chapter 2 we arrive at chapter 3 where Haman is rewarded and elevated in Xerxes’ court. All the nobles and officials were to bow down to pay honor to Haman, but Mordecai refused to bow because he was a Jew who only bowed to the one true God. When Mordecai’s refusal and reason were brought before him, Haman “scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai” (Esther 3:6) and plotted genocide of the Jews living in Persia. Haman and his goonies cast the pur (lot) to choose the day and month of the genocide. What I find extremely interesting is that they cast the lot in the first month, Nisan, the day before the Passover feast that celebrates God delivering His people. Hold on to this thought–we’ll come back to it in later posts. The lot falls on the 12th month, meaning the genocide will take place in the month of Adar (February-March on our Gregorian calendar).
Haman cleverly persuades King Xerxes that it isn’t in his best interest to tolerate “a certain people” in his kingdom whose customs are different. In a scene reminiscent of Judas betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, Haman then offers to pay silver to the King in exchange for the death of the Jews. The King told Haman to keep his money and then gives him his signet ring and permission to do with the people as he wished. Royal scribes wrote out Haman’s announcement in the languages of all the provinces and each proclamation was sealed with Xerxes’ signet ring and sent out by couriers throughout the kingdom.
Something that stuck out to me was how both Mordecai’s and Haman’s ancestry was continually pointed out. To the Jews, lineage meant everything. Tracing ancestry back to Abraham was their proof that they were saved. Mordecai’s family line is mentioned in Esther 2:5, showing that he is in the family of Kish. Kish was the father of King Saul, meaning that Mordecai is a Jew in the family line of Saul. This is important because Haman is referred to as the “Agagite” (Esther 3:1) and his ancestry is Amalekite (Esther 2:3). The Amalekites are the ones who attacked the Isrealites after they crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 17:8-16) and God declared that He would be at war with the Amalekites. Generations later King Saul was instructed to kill the Amalekites and their king, Agag (1 Samuel 15). So the “battle” between Mordecai and Haman is a continuation of Saul versus Agag–Israel’s continued war with the Amalekites starting back at the Exodus! Had King Saul obeyed the Lord, the book of Esther might not have come to be!
Seed Thought: Despite persecution, Mordecai the Jew followed God wholeheartedly, as demonstrated by his refusal to bow down to Haman. This is what separates him from his ancestor, King Saul, who didn’t rely on or follow God’s commands. To be as steadfast as Mordecai we’ve got to “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:8-10).
