Esther: Haman's Hatred

In Esther 3, the Bible tells us that the king promoted Haman the Agagite and gave him authority over all the Persian princes. Because of his newly elevated status, all the king's servants bowed before him and paid homage to him. All except Mordecai the Jew. Perhaps being a Jew, Mordecai would not bow in worship before no one but God alone. Perhaps there were other reasons as well. But the fact that he would not bow before Haman only served to agrivate Haman to the point of hatred. His hatred does not stop with Mordecai, but he also begins to hate all of Mordecai's people, the Jews.

Verse 6 says that Haman determined to destroy all of the Jews who were throughout the whole kingdom of King Ahasuerus. He plots and schemes and comes up with a plan whereby he smears the name of the Jews before the king. He falsely accuses them of not observing the king's laws and paints them as being nothing more than a bunch of rebels and traitors. So, the king, acting upon the wicked word of Haman, has official letters written sealed with the king's own stamp of approval. Verse 13 says that the "letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children...and to seize their possessions as plunder." Keep in mind that the king is merely acting off of the trusted word of Haman, a man he confided in.

It is absolutely amazing how far some will go when it comes to their hatred of others. Hatred leads as far as murder. In fact, Jesus said that those who are angry with others without just cause are indeed guilty of murder. Often, someone may have a personality that is different from yours. Their likes and interests may be different from your likes and interests. If you are not careful, you can begin to develop a dislike for the person all becasue they are not like you. Jesus said that you and I are to love our neighbors as we would love ourselves. Here in Esther, Haman is blinded by pride and hatred, and he will soon come crashing down. The Bible says that pride goes before a fall, and a haughty spirit leads one to destruction. His pride leads him to smear the reputation of the Jews before the king. This passage should serve to remind us just how dangerous and serious it is to bad mouth others--it is murder.

Instead of judging others through the lens of self-righteousness, try to love people the way that Jesus loves you. Instead of looking at people as being expendable, why not look at people as valuable, no matter who they are or what they have done in life! I pray that we see others through the eyes of Jesus, who sees people as sinners in need of salvation. A soul is valuable, friend. So valualable that the Son of God willingly laid down His life on a cruel cross. Don't allow pride and jealousy to blind you as it did Haman.