June 4, 2025, Ester 3:1-15
3 After
these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman the Agagite, the son of
Hammedatha, and advanced him and set his throne above all the officials
who were with him. 2 And all the king's servants
who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman, for the king
had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai did not bow down or pay
homage. 3 Then the king's servants who were at
the king's gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king's
command?” 4 And when they spoke to him day after
day and he would not listen to them, they told Haman, in order to see whether
Mordecai's words would stand, for he had told them that he was a Jew. 5 And
when Haman saw that Mordecai did not bow down or pay homage to him, Haman
was filled with fury. 6 But he
disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to
him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the
people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
7 In the
first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King
Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after
day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which
is the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to
King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among
the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different
from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king's laws, so that
it is not to the king's profit to tolerate them. 9 If
it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay
10,000 talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the
king's business, that they may put it into the king's treasuries.” 10 So
the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the
Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And
the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with
them as it seems good to you.”
12 Then the
king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and an
edict, according to all that Haman commanded, was written to the
king's satraps and to the governors over all the provinces and to the
officials of all the peoples, to every province in its own script and
every people in its own language. It was written in the name of King
Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring. 13 Letters
were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with instruction to
destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and
children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is
the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 A
copy of the document was to be issued as a decree in every province by
proclamation to all the peoples to be ready for that day. 15 The
couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in
Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city
of Susa was thrown into confusion.
Here we see the disparity
of the Jews when learning their fate at the hand of Haman’s vicious degree to
destroy the Jews. After repeated requests from Mordecia to Queen Esther to
speak to the king on their behalf, Esther bravely agrees knowing her life may
be at risk.
Courage, faith, standing
for what is right, the power of prayer and fasting are strong threads of themes
in these verses.
As I ponder these
thoughts, I think how fortunate we are to live in a country founded on
Christian beliefs. Yet many of those beliefs are being challenged in our
current culture.
Will you find yourself
standing firmly on the Word of God and its truths even when it seems awkward?
I pray that our love and
knowledge of his Word will allow us to speak transforming words as we share
truth with others.
In
Mordecai's words, "Who knows but that you have come to royal position
for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)
Robin Adams
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