Esther 6:11-14 “Warned”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹¹And Haman took the clothing and the horse and he caused to clothe Mordecai and caused him to ride in the street of the city and he called to his face, “This will be done to the man which the king delights in honoring him.” ¹²And Mordecai returned to the gate of the king and Haman hastened himself to his house mourning and head being covered. ¹³And Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and to the all of his friends the all of which had happened to him, and his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If from the seed of the Jews Mordecai [is] whom you have begun to fall to his face, not you will be able to him because to fall you will fall to his face.” ¹⁴While ones speaking [intently] with him the eunuchs of the king arrived and they caused to hasten to go Haman to the banquet which Esther had made.

Oh, how the wicked do fall. Here we see in this singular incident the fractal of reality. In this world without God, it would seem that very, very bad people rise to the top and then reign in terror over everyone else. It would seem that us peons at the bottom are left to suffer helplessly at their hands. Especially as Christ-followers, we live all too aware that those “at the top” don’t like our beliefs and we’d better conform “or else.” As it says in Psalm 2:1-3, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us!”

The picture in those verses is that of a horse stamping defiantly, and so it appears to us, that the wicked are formidable and us essentially helpless before them. But notice what it goes on to say there in Psalm 2: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh…” The God they pretend isn’t there suddenly thunders from heaven and right will be right and truth will be truth. He says to them, “I have installed My King on Zion, My holy hill,” then counsels them all, “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way…!” (v.12).

The good news of reality is that God wins. The Hamans of this world are people who are ambitious, scheming, cold-hearted, arrogant, cruel, and bald-faced liars. They often appear to be very powerful and, in fact, do great damage, but for us seemingly helpless people who suffer at their hands, there is one thing we can be assured of: God knows the every breath of the wicked and can overrule them at any moment. As Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over Me, except it were granted to you from above” (John 19:11).

The good news in this world without God is that they’re wrong. There is a God and the real truth is that “the Most High rules,” and, because He rules, love and right and truth will win in the end. For you who have chosen to live for love and truth and right, you needn’t despair when you see the wicked triumphing. The Hamans may decree your ruin. The Hamans may build their gallows to hang you on. However, you have the privilege of faith – of believing in One who rules and will wisely intervene according to His perfect wisdom. We have Someone to trust!

As you and I would go to work (sometimes under very wicked bosses) and live our lives (under a very corrupt and wicked government), we can go on living for love and truth and right assured we live under the smile of Him who will win in the end. We need that.

Notice here in this passage the profound difference between wicked, proud Haman and faithful, humble Mordecai. Mordecai did what was right when he overheard the plot against the king. Then he continued to simply do his job though forgotten and unrewarded, unacknowledged for so many years. Then suddenly he gets propelled to great honor. Then what does he do? He returned to his job at the king’s gate. That’s it. See how steady he is. Because he can trust God, he can simply, humbly, consistently just be Mordecai, love and raise his adopted Esther, and go every day to do his job. Whether he is or isn’t rewarded and whether he is or is not recognized, he just keeps being Mordecai. That is precisely because he lives for something far higher than his own personal advantage. Faith and humility enable him to be a man of integrity through all the highs and lows of living life.

Then there is Haman. Proud and wicked and as they say, “Soon glad, soon sad, soon mad.” As unstable as water. It is notable that, in his arrogance, he thought he could use Xerxes to accomplish his own evil plot against Mordecai. However, that very Xerxes says, “Go, do it all for Mordecai,” and unknowingly humbles this wicked man, so swelled up with his own self-importance. The Great Haman is forced to parade his most bitter enemy through the streets in honor!

It is interested that some of the old writers suggest the reason why Haman would even suggest these honors – the king’s clothes and riding on his horse – was because he had his own sights set on the throne. I suspect they are right. When Haman thinks of himself as honored, what does he see? He sees himself in a king’s robe, riding on a king’s horse, with people bowing everywhere he goes. I would carry it all a bit further and surmise that, if he hadn’t been hung from the gallows, it would have been only a matter of time before he himself made a play for the throne. The pride of his heart would have deceived him until Xerxes became the despised Mordecai in his heart, the only obstacle between him and what he thought was the glory he deserved.

Then see Haman in the consequences of his pride. The king gives him what is in reality a simple assignment. “Lead a man around the city and honor him for me.” How big a deal is that? Any one of probably a thousand of Xerxes’ servants could have done it and walked away. In fact any decent person would actually be glad for Mordecai. What’s wrong with seeing someone else honored? Nothing, unless my heart wants that glory for itself. At worst, most people could have done it just because they were told to.

But what about Haman? He is totally devastated. It’s the end of his world, the utter ruin of his day. He has to rush home in deep disgrace to gather his wife and friends to cry on their shoulders. Mordecai goes back to his responsibilities. Haman leaves off minding the king’s business to run home and mind his own. We see that what Haman’s evil does is that it makes him a man who, when he is honored, he swells up like a toad, then the slightest affront pops his big, pompous bubble and leaves him devastated. And through it all, we can see that he’s minding not the king’s business but his own.

Once again, if we would profit from this story, let us be reminded, “You’re the man.” Pride will do in my heart and life exactly what it did in Haman’s. Whenever I am honored, I need to stay very close to the Lord, not put too much stake in those honors, be thankful for them, but then let them be a motivation to return to my duties and just be faithful. When I find myself galled by something someone says to me or about me, when I find myself angry over how I’ve been treated, I need to recognize the real problem is my wounded pride. I need to beg the Lord to help me see it and repent quickly. Haman reminds us the Lord isn’t kidding when He says, “The Lord resists the proud,” and “Pride goes before a fall.”

We stand warned.

“God gives His grace to the humble.” “Humility comes before honor.” You and I can be Mordecais or we can be Hamans. We can be stable, faithful people or we can live tossed like a ship in a storm. But notice, the real choice is not simply whether we’ll be stable or tossed. It’s whether we’ll be humble or proud. The “stable or tossed” are simply the very predictable consequences of what you or I do with this evil monster called pride.

Once again, we stand warned.

God help us.