5And Haman saw that Mordecai not bowing and not honoring to him and Haman was filled with anger, 6and it was of little value in his eyes to send a hand in Mordecai, to him alone, because they had told to him the people of Mordecai and Haman sought (intently) to exterminate the all of the Jews who [were] in the all of the kingdom of Xerxes, the people of Mordecai.
So, people want to live in a world without God. Does that matter? Is faith an arbitrary decision, something you can choose for or against? Is it really just something you decide for yourself? Haman is a living answer to that question. Haman is a man without God. The awful truth is that he illustrates for us exactly what humans become in their world without God.
We all have a problem with anger. Anyone who has lived a few years already has a “Hall of Shame” in their mind for the stupid things they’ve done and said, the damage they’ve wreaked because something made them angry and it just went downhill from there. If we’re honest, we all have that problem. Haman gets angry and the Hebrew literally says he was “filled with anger.” He was full of it. It took over his mind, his heart, his thoughts, his plans. As it says in Prov. 25:28, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” Too bad he doesn’t know that Prov. 19:19 already warned, “A hot-tempered man must pay the penalty.”
And why is he angry? He’s angry because someone won’t fall down and worship him. To see Mordecai standing galls him. If you asked him, you can bet he’d say he’s angry because the king’s command is being disobeyed. He’d make himself sound noble. But the real truth is that Mordecai has wounded his pride, his sinful, arrogant, delusive pride. It has nothing to do with the king’s command or any other flimsy charade he might conjure up. He is angry because someone won’t worship him.
Can he see any of this? Of course not. “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” “The heart of man is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.” His sin has already blinded him. Haman has set himself on a course of self-destruction but he doesn’t know it, he can’t see it, and even if he did, he would be powerless to stop it. There is only one hope for you and me to conquer the anger and pride in our hearts: God. We believers have the wonderful privilege to cry out, “Who shall save me from this body of death?” and hear the answer, “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” But, you see, Haman is a man without God. He has no hope.
When people think they can choose God or not and go on their merry way, like Haman, they are not realizing the enormity of their own sin natures. They are not realizing they are their own worst enemy. They are not realizing the mortal danger they are born into – that the very air they breathe is trying to kill them. Without God, they have no Rock, no Fortress, no Strong Deliverer to cry to, to deliver them from themselves and the malignancy of this fallen world.
And, not surprisingly, who is Haman like? “You are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…” Satan is a lion “roaming the earth, seeking those he can devour.” His demon in Revelation is named “Apollyon,” which means “destroyer.” He exists to kill people. The minute Haman’s pride is wounded and his anger provoked, he resolves to kill people. He first would kill Mordecai, but then, being of his father the devil, it seems “too light a thing” to kill only Mordecai. Why waste such a golden opportunity, when we can kill thousands, if not millions!
Herein lies the problem. Whether we see it or not, we are born into a cosmic spiritual war. In this war, there are only two sides: God’s and Satan’s. There are only two kingdoms: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. To refuse to serve God is to be enslaved to Satan, to be doomed to a life of murder and lies – a life of destroying relationships and living in delusions. Only God can deliver me from living out the image of my father the devil.
Does it matter? Is it okay to live without God? Is it okay to live out our lives ignoring God, pretending He doesn’t exist? The Haman in all of us tells us the answer. Think of how the book of Galatians describes it: To live without God is to live “the works of the flesh.” And what are they? “Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like” (5:19-21). The book of Titus describes us as, “foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (2:3). Romans 1:29 says that having turned our backs on God, we “have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity…full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.”
It is only the Lord’s kindness, “causing His sun to shine on the evil and good,” His “common grace” that prevents us all from being as bad as we could have been. It’s only because of His grace that this world gets to enjoy some measures of love and kindness, to bring out the image of God, even in people who have ignored Him. No, the decision was not arbitrary whether to know Jesus or not.
We see this especially in the contrast between Mordecai & Esther and Haman. Mordecai is the man who took his little orphaned cousin “to daughter.” Mordecai is the man who “every day” walked “back and forth” to know of Esther’s “peace.” Mordecai is the man who faithfully exposed Bigthan and Teresh’s plot, in great danger to himself, and Mordecai is the man who had the courage not to bow to a man God had cursed. And then there is our precious Esther, the girl who could be uncommonly beautiful, yet still be sweet and humble, and who will, in time, risk her own life to save the lives of her people.
None of this is surprising of course. The Bible calls it “the fruit of the Spirit.” And what is that? “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (5:22,23). To those who would listen, God says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:12-14). Mordecai and Esther live out all of these virtues right before our eyes.
Haman may be an extreme example of the demon in all of us, but can we all be honest enough to look around and realize there’s way too much of Haman in our world? And can we also look at people who really do love Jesus and admit that they and their families look a whole lot more like Mordecai & Esther than Haman? Granted there are a LOT of “religious” people who are nothing but Hamans hiding behind a disguise of the Bible and Christianity, but we need to consider the real Christians, the people whose lives exemplify the fruit of the Spirit, not the spirit of this fallen world.
Does it matter? Does it make any difference? In God’s perfect order of this world, it is our choice. He grants us that dignity. We can choose to know Him or not. He would force no one to love Him. But does it matter? Is it okay to live in this world as if God didn’t exist? Is it okay to be “a man without God?” The book of Esther quietly answers that question. Do I want to be just another Haman? Or would I know the love and kindness, the faithfulness and courage of Esther & Mordecai?
The difference in life and death.
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