July 7, 2022

That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.

“What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.

“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.

The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.

His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”

“Bring him in,” the king ordered.

When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?” So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”

“Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”

Esther 6:1-10

Devotional

The amazing short book of Esther has a gripping story, and a small central cast of characters. Of course, there is King Xerxes of Persia and his courtier Haman, and then there is Queen Esther and her kinsman Mordecai. The courtier Haman despises Mordecai because Mordecai shows no regard toward him. Haman is vain, easily offended, and highly conscious of his status at court. The fact that Mordecai will not bow down to him is eating him alive. The only way to satisfy his vanity is to kill Mordecai. So Haman goes to court to beg the King for Mordecai’s execution.

Now the way God works in the book of Esther is to move people and events together at just the right time and in just the right way to bless our heroine, Esther, and her kinsman. So it just so happens that as Haman shows up to ask the King for a murder, the King is moved to reward Mordecai. And the King asks Haman to do the honors, rewarding Mordecai for his selfless deed in the past. Haman is the one who conducts Mordecai on the King’s own horse, and cries out his new honorable status to the city’s inhabitants. It is a humiliation and punishment of Haman (from which he learns nothing).

There is a phrase used in the Shakespeare play Hamlet, “hoist with his own petard.” Hamlet has detected a plot against himself and resolves to let the plot rebound on the plotter, who he hopes will be hoisted or lifted by his own bomb (petard). That is exactly what happens to Haman, as the way he planned to murder blameless Mordecai and the gallows he built on which to execute him ends up being Haman’s own place of death.

When we are filled with envy, jealousy, and rage, we think all of that energy will be experienced by the object of our wrath. We want our target to suffer from all the burning feelings we are harboring. But that is like drinking poison and waiting for someone else to die! We, not the one we envy or hate, will end up suffering the caustic effects of those emotions.

God has a still more excellent way for us: the way of love, grace, self-control, and maturity.

For Reflection

Have you ever been devoured by negative feelings about someone in your life?

What did your emotions do to that person? 

What did those emotions do to you?

Knowing what you know now, how has God helped you to resolve or move on from such situations?

Prayer

Dear Lord, Sometimes my anger and jealousy burn inside me. They burn and warp me, turning me into a shadow of myself. Lord, take from me my anger and help me to step onto higher ground. Help me to mature into the person you intend me to be, showing others the grace and maturity you want for me. Lord, help me to grow. In Jesus’ name, amen.