Transcript

A cowboy walked out of the mercantile and suddenly came running back in. He stood up on a counter and yelled, “Now, who here went and painted my horse blue!”

Nobody answered. Then he pulled out his two guns and yelled even louder, “Which no-good, rotten, scoundrel had the nerve to paint my horse blue!!”

Finally, a burly, imposing, towering 6-foot, 8-inch-tall wrangler holding a double-barrel shotgun and a stick of dynamite sauntered over and gruffly said, “I’ve done it. I’m the one who painted your horse blue.” The cowboy looked at the man and said, “I just wanted to let you know the first coat is dry.”

Speaking of a no-good, rotten scoundrel, we’ll be introduced to one in this portion of the Book of Esther, as we look at the rise of Haman.

Esther 3:1-6: “After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

“And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. Then the king’s servants, which were in the king’s gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king’s commandment?

“Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand: for he had told them that he was a Jew. And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

“And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.”

Verse 1 begins with the words “After these things,” which refers to AFTER Esther became queen and AFTER Mordecai had saved the king from assassination.

Barry David wrote the following, “Life for the Jews in exile could not have been much better. One of their own was queen (although most would not have been aware of that fact) and one of their own had just rescued the king…All of that, however, would quickly change. The Jewish stock on the Shushan Board of Exchange, which in chapter 2 reaches all-time highs, plummets in chapter 3 to all-time lows.”

In chapter 2, verse 16, we read that Esther’s ascension to the throne took place in the seventh year of Xerxes’ reign or 479 B.C. Here in chapter 3, verse 7, we find another date: “in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus.”

Therefore, sometime between the 7th and 12th year, or 479 and 474 B.C., the events of verses 1-6 take place.

The important thing to take note of here in verse 1 is that Mordecai had saved the king’s life as detailed in the last verses of chapter 2, but his service to the king had been completely overlooked and Mordecai was not rewarded or even thanked.

We do, however, find that someone received a reward and a promotion in verse 1 of chapter 3, but it is not Mordecai. Rather, it is one who came out of nowhere and who probably flattered his way into the position, a man by the name of Haman.

Verse 1 says of Haman that he was the son of Hammedatha. His father’s Persian name meant “given by the moon.” Haman’s name means “magnificent” or “well-disposed.”
Verse 1 adds that Haman was the son of Hammedatha, “the Agagite.”

Because Haman was an Agagite, some Bible commentators and teachers have made the connection that he might have been descended from Agag, king of the Amalekites who lived 600 years earlier at the time of Israel’s first king, King Saul.

In disobedience to God, King Agag had been spared by Saul when he destroyed the Amalekites, but he was later slain by the prophet, Samuel. It is a possibility that Haman was a descendant of the kings of the Amalekites.

What seems more plausible is that archaeologists have uncovered an inscription which indicates that Agag was the name of a province in the Persian Empire. This more likely explains why Haman, a high-ranking Persian official, was called an Agagite.

Also, Haman, by his own Persian name, and the Persian names of his sons given in chapter 9, and the Persian name of his father, Hammedatha, all make it seem more likely that Haman was a genuine Persian.

As far as his name goes, he could have been called, “Haman the hateful.” As we will see, everything about Haman was hateful. The book of Esther portrays Haman as having all 7 of the things that Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us that the Lord hates:

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

While we don’t know why Haman was promoted, we do know how high he was promoted. The king “set his seat above all the princes that were with him.” The word “seat” refers to his authority, and to Haman was given great authority.

In chapter 1, we were introduced by name to “the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom.”

King Ahasuerus had a trusted seven-man counsel of advisors who had special access into his presence and who had been ranked highest in the kingdom.

But here we find that Haman is advanced past these seven men, promoted to the highest possible office in Persia, to chief officer next to the king.

Like the seven princes, but with more authority than them now, Haman also had free access to the king’s presence.

And once Haman rose to power, we no longer find the princes mentioned in Esther, from whom Ahasuerus had formerly sought counsel. Instead, it was Haman alone who advised the king.

With his appointment, the king had issued a special edict commanding that Haman be reverenced by other nobles, court officials, and magistrates which sat in the king’s gate.

Due to Haman’s high position in Persia, they were all to bow and pay homage to him.

In Esther 2:19, we learned that Mordecai had at some point been appointed to an official position in Persia’s judicial system and so he was one who “sat in the king’s gate.”

But as Haman came through the king’s gate on a daily basis, verse 2 says, “Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.” Mordecai refused to obey the edict of the king and he would not bow when Haman went by.

Years prior to this, Queen Vashti refused to obey the king’s command and it cost her her role as queen. Mordecai was aware of what could happen with disobeying the king’s command, but was willing to count the cost. This shows the degree of Mordecai’s resolve to not bow to Haman. The fear of God overcame any fear of man to him.

The words, “bowed” and “reverenced” in this verse refer to prostrating oneself in worship.

Had this meant only civil reverence the king would not have needed to command it; nor would Mordecai have refused it.

Because you find examples in Israel’s history of men bowing before other men, and showing due respect to those in authority, such as when David bowed before Saul (1 Sam. 24:8). And the law of Moses also did not forbid this. But the Mosaic Law did forbid the worship of any but Jehovah God.

There was, therefore, some kind of divine honor intended in the king’s requirement to worship and pay homage to Haman, such as was paid to the Persian kings. When the Persians bowed before their kings, they paid homage to him as to a divine being.

And this kind of divine worship was to be extended to Haman as King Ahasuerus’s representative and second-in-command.

And at this, Mordecai, a faithful, believing Jew, refused to worship Haman, remaining loyal to God and His Word that God alone must be worshiped.

Mordecai’s own answer to those who asked him why he did not bow and why he transgressed the king’s commandment, in verse 4, was because “he was a Jew.” Mordecai refused the required prostration and reverence on religious grounds as a Jew.
Verse 4 tells us that “daily” the other court officials hounded Mordecai about this, because every day Mordecai refused to bow and give reverence to Haman as he went by.

They daily questioned him and urged him to obey the king’s commandment, but Mordecai “hearkened not unto them,” he would not listen or obey.

At a certain point after trying for some time to get Mordecai to bow, the other officials in the king’s gate decided to take the matter directly to Haman himself, “to see whether Mordecai’s matters would stand,” or “to see whether his words would stand as valid.”

In other words, they wanted to see whether his answer that he was a Jew was a valid and acceptable reason for his behavior and for his refusal to give reverence to Haman and disobey the king’s command.

But these men knew perfectly that they would stir up trouble in letting Haman know, because Haman hadn’t even noticed until after he was told. We can be sure that these men were seeking to gain favor in Haman’s eyes by doing so.

Now, having his attention called to the fact, the next day when Haman saw for himself “that Mordecai bowed not,” he was furious, hot with anger, and “full of wrath” (v. 5). What fills a person ultimately will control them, and wrath controlled Haman here.

In Haman’s pride, it infuriated him beyond reason. He was so angry that “he thought scorn” or he disdained the thought of laying hands and executing just Mordecai alone.

Haman could have simply reported Mordecai’s refusal to obey the king’s command to Ahasuerus, and the king would have likely imprisoned or even executed Mordecai.

But Haman’s vengeance would not be satisfied by destroying just one person, his hatred had to be satisfied by something bigger. And knowing that Mordecai was a Jew, he now wanted to destroy Mordecai’s people, all the Jews in the entire Persian empire!

In this wicked desire to destroy the Jews, as it’s been said, “Haman was being satanically used to target the entire Jewish race in an unsuccessful attempt to change the course of redemptive history and God’s plans for Israel.”

In all this, we find that Haman is a picture of the future Antichrist in the Tribulation period. Like the Antichrist, Haman came into power peacefully.

Haman was promoted, advanced, and given great authority by the king, and likewise the god of this world, Satan, will one day give great power and authority to his Anti-Christ, exalting him higher than all others.

Like King Ahasuerus with Haman, Satan will demand that all give reverence and divine worship to the Anti-Christ.

But like Mordecai, the godly Jewish remnant of the last days will refuse to worship him. This will infuriate the future Anti-Christ, and in his hatred, he will attempt to exterminate and destroy them all.

Esther 3:7-11: “In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.

“And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.

“If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.

“And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.”

Before wicked Haman, in his rage, took his plan to the king to destroy all the Jews, he first, with the help of the court astrologers and magicians, chose to casts lots to superstitiously select a day for the event.

In verse 7, we learn that in the month Nisan, which is our March/April, “in the twelfth year” of the reign of King Ahasuerus, or 474 B.C., “they,” or the astrologers and magicians, “cast Pur,” which is the Persian word for “lot.”

Casting lots basically meant to shoot or throw dice. The astrologers and magicians cast the lot with Haman present “from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.”

This does not mean that for a whole year they threw dice in front of Haman. Rather, it means that the casts they made stood for a different day and month, to determine the day and the month within that calendar year.

And the lot fell on “the twelfth month” which was the month Adar, or in our February/March. Verse 13 adds that the lot also fell “upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.”

This gave the Jews time almost a year to prepare themselves and it gave Mordecai and Esther time to act. Again, this shows God working “behind the seen.” Proverbs 16:33 reads, “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”

Like when the superstitious sailors in the great storm on the Mediterranean Sea cast lots to determine for whose cause this trouble had come upon them, and the lot fell on Jonah, the Lord was in control and at work here in this casting of lots.

And in God’s overruling providence, the fact that the lot fell on the last month of the year, the long delay was for the purpose to give the Jews time to thwart Haman’s evil plan.

In verse 8, after Haman had cast lots and arrived at a date for the extermination of the Jews, he brought his plan before the king, seeking his permission to kill them all.

Haman presented his plan it as if he only had the king’s good at heart, and he hid his prejudice and hatred. Haman did not divulge and craftily omitted the fact that it was the Jewish people he is speaking about, speaking of them only as “a certain people.”

But the king also failed to be interested or involved enough to even care to ask.
Haman gave an inflammatory report to King Ahasuerus about this certain people, misrepresenting them as a danger to the empire.

He presented the king with half-truths and does not tell him the whole story. And like Satan, Haman was a murderer and a liar.

He stated, and it was true, that they were scattered and dispersed throughout “all the provinces” of his kingdom, but he mentioned this fact to make it seem perilous to not do something about them because they could adversely affect the whole empire.

He stated, and it was true, that “their laws are diverse [or different] from all people.” Their laws were different because they were God’s chosen people who alone had received God’s holy law, His righteous standard, from His own hand.

As Moses told Israel in Deuteronomy 4:8, “And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?”

Then Haman exaggerates, lies, and falsely accuses all the Jews, stating, “neither keep they the king’s laws.” One man, Mordecai, had dared to disobey one law, but Haman used that to falsely accuse ALL the Jews and that they ALL disobey ALL the laws of the land.

Haman told the king that for these reasons and due to their disloyalty, it was not in the king’s best interest “to suffer them” or to let them remain.

He then requested that if it pleased the king to “let it be written,” or decreed. As Esther 1:19 said concerning Vashti’s removal, “let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered.” Once a decree was written and given by the king, it could not be changed or reversed according to Persian law.

And Haman desired that the king give an irreversible decree concerning these people “that they may be destroyed,” that they all be killed.

Then to encourage that this decree be made, Haman offered the king a very large bribe, telling him, “and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries.”

Being a man of immense wealth and perhaps the wealthiest man in all of Persia, Haman said he himself was willing to bear the costs involved in carrying out this decree and for the privilege of ridding the kingdom of these dangerous people.

He offered the king, “ten thousand talents of silver” which is equal to 375 tons, or 750,000 pounds, or 12 million ounces of silver. The current price per ounce of silver is around $30, which means this amount of silver is worth about $360 million dollars today.

Haman offered this money from his own private fortune, but then was probably hoping to recoup some, most, or all of this amount from the homes, lands and possessions he would confiscate after he killed the Jews.

After hearing the report of a rebellious people in his kingdom and noting the generous offer of the money, the king, without asking any questions and being far too trusting of Haman, gave his royal signet ring to Haman.

The king’s signet ring bore his personal identification mark that was engraved on the face of the ring and was used to seal documents ensuring they were indeed royal writings.

The signet ring would be pressed into wet clay that was allowed to dry on a scroll, thus sealing and authenticating the contents.

Giving this ring to Haman gave him executive power to act in the king’s name and it gave him the ability to write any decree he pleased and to put the king’s seal on it.

Giving the ring demonstrated the king’s approval and then the king voiced his approval, first telling him, “The silver is given to thee,” meaning that he was telling him to keep his silver and that the king would pay for it himself.

Then he further tells him that these people were also given to him “to do with them as it seemeth good [or right, pleasing] to thee.”

The king did so likely believing that he had merely agreed to the execution of a group of dangerous radicals in his kingdom, not knowing that he just approved a decree that had far-reaching effects and which would kill his own queen.

Esther 3:12-15: “Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.

“And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey.

“The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.”

As Haman’s evil plan moved forward, verse 12 tells us that the king’s scribes were called on the 13th day of the first month to write a decree about the Jews’ extermination on the 13th day of the 12th month.

We again see that God is providentially in control of all the events in Esther, and therefore this date of the writing of the decree is not a mere coincidence.

The fact that the first month, Nisan, was when the casting of lots took place, and then the decree was written and dispatched on the 13th day of that month shows God “behind the seen.” The 13th day of Nisan was the day preceding Passover which took place on the 14th day of Nisan (Ex. 12:6).

Passover was the commemoration of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. And here again in the days of Esther, God worked to deliver His people as He had in the past.

Verse 12 gives us a picture of the comprehensiveness of the decree.

The decree was written to and distributed to the king’s lieutenants, or satraps, governors, and rulers “of every people of every province” of the Persian kingdom, and was translated into the various languages of the peoples within the empire.

It was written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring. It was then sent by “posts,” or couriers throughout the whole realm of Persia.

The decree stated that “all Jews,” of all age groups, young and old, including young children and women, should be destroyed and killed “in one day,” the 13th day of the 12th month of Adar.

The decree further stated that the property owned by the Jews’ was to be plundered, and this prospect of spoil, money, and land provided incentive for the decree to be obeyed.

Copies of the decree were published, posted, and made publicly available to all people in every province of Persia commanding all to be ready for this day.

Verse 15 tells us that the couriers quickly carried the decree to every part of the empire according to the commandment of the king and was published in the Persian capital city of Shushan as well.

Verse 15 also gives us two extremes to the news. The king and Haman could send out a commandment decreeing the death of thousands upon thousands and then uncaringly and happily sit down to drink.

While they were unconcerned, the city of Shushan was very concerned and bewildered at the news of such extreme and deadly measures being taken against people of the empire and what had caused it.

To this day the Jews have never forgotten Haman. They are reminded of this wicked man each year at the Feast of Purim. Walter Adeney wrote the following,

“During the dramatic reading of the Book of Esther in a Jewish synagogue at the Feast of Purim, the congregation may be found taking the part of a chorus and exclaiming at every mention of the name of Haman, ‘May his name be blotted out’…while boys with mallets will pound stones and bits of wood on which the odious name is written.”