Today we will continue our series on The Story of Esther. We are taking a six-week journey through the book, concluding on Easter Sunday.
Last week we were introduced to 3 of the main 4 Characters of this story. We meet…
The King, who became displeased with his Queen and became the next bachelor to try and find a new Queen.
Mordecai, who was raising and looking after Esther. And remember that Mordecai spoiled a plot to kill the king and saved the king's life.
Esther who entered this competition to become Queen and was successfully chosen.
Haman, our story's villain, will be a prominent addition to the story today. And due to Haman, the plot will begin to thicken as Haman makes plans against the Jews. And remember, interestingly enough, Esther is one of two books of the Bible that doesn’t directly mention God. But that doesn’t mean we won’t see God present in this book. So let’s dive into Esther 3, and then we will begin breaking it down…
As mentioned briefly in last week's message summary, Mordecai comes across some essential knowledge that saves the King’s life at the end of chapter 2. But the strangest thing happens in Esther 3:1. You would expect the text to say that after saving his life, the king honored Mordecai. That Mordecai received a promotion and was elevated to the highest position in the palace.
But that is not what happens! Instead, a man named Haman (our villain of the story) is elevated. Mordecai saves the king’s life, and absolutely nothing happens for him. I want you to tuck a thought away in your mind momentarily. Sometimes God feels silent, but even when I don’t feel God, He’s working. Even when I don’t see Him, He’s working.
Just because you do the right thing does not mean you will get what you want from others. But this is why we don’t work for others; we work for God! Sometimes the people who do the right things are not elevated or receive recognition for their actions. And while man may miss it or forget, God hasn’t.
Mordecai does the right thing, and there is no reward. This is particularly notable because Persian kings immediately and generously rewarded those who showed loyalty. Xerxes made a man governor of Cilicia for saving his brother’s life. Xerxes granted land to two ship captains who assisted in a battle against the Greeks. But nothing happens for Mordecai.
The Problem (3:1-6)
Haman has been elevated above all the other officials and servants in the palace. Therefore, all the officials would bow down and show honor to Haman. Carefully notice that verse 2 says this was because of the king’s command.
But Mordecai refused to pay him honor or bow before him. The king’s servants would ask Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” (3:3). Notice that we are not given an answer or a reason.
The most frequent answer given is that Mordecai is being righteous by refusing to bow to Haman. The reason given is that the people of God are not to worship any human. We worship God alone. But nothing in the text says that this is his reasoning. Further, the text does not say that anyone worships him as a god.
The text tells us that they are paying him honor for the position he possesses and because of the king’s command. Several people in the scriptures pay honor like Mordecai is asked to do.
Abraham bowed before the Hittites to show them honor (Genesis 23:7).
Jacob’s sons bow before Joseph (Genesis 43:28).
Moses bowed before Jethro the Midianite (Exodus 18:7).
David bowed before Saul (1 Samuel 24:8).
Nathan bowed before David (1 Kings 1:23).
The point is that there is no reason to think that Mordecai’s refusal to bow or show honor has anything to do with righteousness or obeying God. This is not worship. One can imagine that Mordecai bowed before King Xerxes when he was in the palace.
By contrast, some say Mordecai is being vindictive. Mordecai is mad because he is not elevated, and Haman was, so Mordecai’s response is not to bow down to Haman. It is nothing more than a personal vendetta. But the text does not reveal this either. If this were why Mordecai refused to honor Haman, one would imagine that the king’s servants would know this.
The only thing the text gives us is that Haman and Mordecai are enemies of each other. This is revealed in their backgrounds. We saw in chapter 2 that when Mordecai was introduced, he was described as a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin and a descendant of Saul’s family.
Look at chapter 3:1. Haman is introduced as an Agagite. Remember that God had commanded Saul to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites and failed. The king’s name was Agag of the Amalekites. Now there are two possibilities. Either Haman is a direct descendant of King Agag, or being called an Agagite is a term to characterize him as an enemy of the Jews.
Either way, when Haman is introduced as an Agagite, we are told the reason for the lack of honor. Mordecai represents the Jews, Haman represents the enemy of the Jews, and the hostility between them is, therefore, to be expected. There is significant tension between these two people because of what they represent.
Here is a modern time equivalent. In the 1980 Winter Olympics, there was a pretty famous hockey game. With that setup alone, most of you know who the teams are, even if you don’t care about hockey.
The game was between the USA and the Soviet Union. Why would a hockey game between Americans and Russians be so historic, especially when the match was not even for a medal? The importance and the tension were because of what the two teams represented. This was not a mere hockey game. This game represented democracy versus communism. It represented decades of the cold war, all in a simple hockey game.
This is what is happening here as Haman is introduced. This is not really about Mordecai and Haman but about what they represented. They represent the long tension and hostility between God’s people and the world empire. This explains what happens next.
When Haman is told that Mordecai does not show him honor, his new purpose is not to deal with Mordecai but “to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom.”
Let me frame this with the irony of the event: Israel was supposed to utterly destroy all the Amalekites by God’s command but did not. Now an “Amalekite” (symbolically) is attempting to destroy all of the Jews. When God calls you to do something, you must follow through, or that situation will eventually return.
The Plan
In verse 7, we see that lots are cast for the timing of Haman’s plan. Haman is looking for the lucky day to carry out his plan. The ancients were always looking for omens to determine what plans they should carry out.
His people believed that lots should be cast in the first month of the year to choose opportune days for important events. There is great irony here because God uses Haman’s superstition of his gods to delay the sequence of events. Haman could have said he wanted to do this next week. But it is going to be nearly a year from now. With his date determined, he gets permission from the king, mixing truths and lies to get what he wants.
He tells the king that there is a people in the empire who keep different laws and do not obey the king, and it is not helpful to tolerate them. Haman offers a ridiculous amount of money for a decree to be issued to destroy these people from the empire. The king agrees, gives his signet ring to Haman (meaning that Haman can write the law in any way he wants), and implements the plan.
The chapter concludes with the decree going through the whole empire on the 13th day of the 12th month to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews and plunder their goods. The whole city is thrown into confusion while the king and Haman sat down to drink over their accomplishment (3:15).
Our Application
As the narrative advances, the message grows darker and darker. So how are the people of God supposed to have courage during dark times?
The scriptures constantly try to wake us up to this truth so that we do not conform to the world around us.
Luke 6:22–23 ESV Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
1 Peter 2:12 ESV Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
2 Timothy 3:12–13 ESV Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
This hostility goes back to Cain killing Abel. Darkness and light will always be in opposition. We can have courage when these things happen because God has always told us that this is how life will be. This will happen, and we can see this truth more clearly as our culture continues to push further from God.
Another key point is that we would not look to the world to help us in this battle. The world is against us, not for us. The world does not care. The empire was not going to bail out or rescue these people. Instead, the king simply agrees to Haman’s plan without care or concern about who these people are that will be destroyed.
Our hope cannot be in a nation or ruler. Please think about how true this is right now. Do you remember a few years ago when ISIS captured several people claiming to be Christians, lined them up in a row beheaded them? It happened a couple of times. Do you remember the outrage over what happened? No? Me either.
Countries of the world and leaders of the world did absolutely nothing. Christians are being persecuted and killed in China. What is the world doing about it? What have our leaders done about it? Where are the calls for justice? Where are the calls for reform? Where are the protests?
I want us to see that the world's empires do not care. The leaders of the empires of the world do not care. They did not care in Babylon, Persia, Greece, or Rome. They still do not care. This is what the scriptures are telling us.
So what do the scriptures tell us to be ready to do, knowing that this is our circumstance as we live in the empire of the world? Notice what Paul said next to those Christians in Ephesus.
(Ephesians 6:13 ESV) “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
Get ready because you do not know when it will be your time to stand firm. You do not know when you will need to stand for the Lord. You do not know when the evil day will hit so that you can withstand the pressure and power against you. Get the armor of God on you so that you can be faithful no matter what difficulties come.
Want to study this message more in-depth? Watch the full sermon here on YouTube!