Queen Esther vs. Haman: Two Important Stories

The book of Esther tells two important stories. One is the triumphant story of a Jewish girl that became queen and rescued the Jewish people from Haman’s murderous plot to destroy them. The other is a cautionary story of the man Haman, the chief minister to King Ahasuerus who despite his position and wealth allowed himself to be driven and eventually destroyed by pride.

HAMAN’S PRIDE LEADS TO HATRED

King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the Persian above all the princes in his kingdom. All the king’s servants bowed and reverenced Haman as the king commanded, except Mordecai, a Jew (Est. 3:1-2). It was against Jewish law for Mordecai to bow down to Haman. Mordecai adopted Esther, his uncle’s daughter when both her parents were dead (Est. 2:7). Esther became queen in the place of Vashti, who was ousted as queen for refusing to appear at king Ahasuerus's command (Est. 2:17). Haman was full of wrath because Mordecai did not bow or reverence him (Est. 3:5). However, Haman and king Ahasuerus did not know that queen Esther was a Jew (Est. 7:4), nor did they know of her relationship to Mordecai (Est. 8:1).

HAMAN PLOTS TO DESTROY THE JEWS

Haman was not content with his promotion and the wealth that came with it, his pride would not let him overlook the fact that Mordecai did not reverence him. Haman wants glory from Mordecai that belongs to God. Haman’s hatred of Mordecai escalates into his prejudice against the Jewish people. Haman devises a plan to not only destroy Mordecai, but all of the Jews that were in the kingdom of Ahasuerus (Est. 3:6). Haman uses his position to speak against the Jews in the ears of the king (Est. 3:8). Haman’s plan involves paying people in the provinces to murder and spoil the Jewish people (Est. 3:9).

HAMAN PUBLICIZES THE DETAILS OF HIS MURDEROUS PLOT

Letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces to utterly destroy the Jewish people and take their spoils for a prey (Est. 3:13). The Jewish people were to be destroyed in one day; on the thirteenth day of the month Adar; the twelfth month (Est. 3:13) . The letters were also distributed in the palace in Shushan where Esther and Mordecai resided, and the city was perplexed (Est. 3:15) . Haman, obviously pleased that his plot to destroy the Jewish people was now the king’s commandment, sat down to drink with the king (Est. 3:15).

ESTHER INTERCEDES ON BEHALF OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE

Mordecai informs Queen Esther of Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews (Est. 4:7). Esther will go in to the king to make supplication unto him for her people. However, Esther knows that it is illegal for anyone to go in to the king uninvited (Est. 4:11), so she requests that the Jewish people fast and pray three days for her prior to her going in to see the king (Est. 4:16). Esther prepares two banquets for King Ahasuerus and also requests that Haman attend (Est. 5:4, 7:1).

HAMAN’S PRIDE ROBS HIM OF HIS JOY

Haman leaves the first banquet joyful and glad of heart, but he is immediately filled with indignation as he passes Mordecai, who did not stand up or move for him (Est. 5:9). Haman’s pride robbed him of this joyous occasion and directed his thoughts toward the day when he would no longer have to see the face of Mordecai at the king’s gate (Est. 5:13).

HAMAN’S PRIDE CAUSES HIM TO LOSE FOCUS

Haman brags to his wife and friends about his glorious riches, his many children, his promotion within the kingdom, and his second invitation to Esther’s banquet with the king, then admits to them that these things mean nothing to him compared to his hatred of Mordecai (Est. 5:11-13). Instead of enjoying his position within the kingdom and the many benefits that came with, his pride caused him to be focused on destroying one man who he felt did not give him the respect that he felt he deserved.

HAMAN PLOTS TO HANG MORDECAI

Haman’s wife and friends suggest that he have a gallows made to hang Mordecai on the following day, and then he should go into Esther’s banquet with the king (Est. 5:14). However, that very night the king read the record of when Mordecai told of a plan to attack the king, and the men involved where hanged (Est. 6:1-2). The king desires at this time to honor Mordecai for saving his life (Est. 6:3). There are no coincidences with God. God is deliberate in his plans for those he loves. God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29:11).

HAMAN’S PRIDE LEADS TO HIS HUMILIATION

The king tells Haman that he wants to honor someone without mentioning the person’s name, and asks Haman how he should honor that person (Est. 6:6). Haman thought that he was the only one that the king wanted to honor, so he suggested that the person be given royal apparel, the king’s horse, the royal crown, then assign the king’s most noble prince to parade him through the streets of the city (Est. 6:6-9). Well, Haman was the most noble prince, so the king commanded that he to do everything that he suggested for Mordecai (Est. 6:10-11). Haman’s pride causes him to be humiliated in the face of the man that he sought to destroy.

HAMAN LEARNS TOO LATE OF MORDECAI’S HERITAGE

After the humiliating experience of parading Mordecai through the streets of the city, Haman returns home in tears (Est. 6:12). Haman’s wise men and his wife inform him that if Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, that Haman would not prevail against him, and would surely fall before him (Est. 6:13). A scripture reference listed for this scripture is Zechariah 2:8. Zechariah writes of his encounter with the angels, “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”

HAMAN’S PRIDE LEADS TO HIS DESTRUCTION

Before Haman could recover from his humiliating ordeal of parading Mordecai through the streets, the king’s chamberlains arrived to take him to Esther’s second banquet (Est. 6:14). At this banquet, Esther revealed to the king that Haman intended to destroy the Jewish people (Est. 7:6), and Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai (Est. 7:9-10).

IT’S NOT OVER YET FOR HAMAN

The story of Haman does not end with his death. Everything that Haman planned to do to the Jewish people was reversed. King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman to queen Esther, who put Mordecai over it (8:1-2). Mordecai became the chief minister to the king instead of Haman (Est. 10:3). The letters sent to the provinces to destroy the Jewish people were reversed, and instead the king gave commandment for the Jewish people to defend themselves against those that would assault them (Est. 8:11). Haman's legacy was destroyed when his ten sons were hung on the gallows (Est. 9:13). The days that Haman set to destroy the Jewish people were turned into the feast of Purim, which is celebrated throughout their generations on the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar (Est. 9:27-28). The Apostle Paul writes, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

CONCLUSION

Although Haman had great influence, position, and wealth, he was not content. His pride led him to desire glory that did not belong to him, but that belonged to God. Haman’s pride gradually escalated from hatred, to murder, to humiliation, and finally to his destruction. However, it did not stop there. The hanging of Haman’s ten sons means that his legacy was also destroyed. The culprit in Haman’s destruction was his pride. Proverbs 16:18 warns us that “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Another lesson in this story is that we should be content with what we have. The Bible says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).

If you would like to have a personal relationship with Jesus, you must be born-again according to Acts 2:38 which reads, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

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Diane Margo Penny is an author, content creator, social media specialist, and Web Designer.

Works Cited:

The Holy Bible, KJV. 1990.

Image Citation:
mountain-6734029_1920. Mostafa Merai. Pixabay.com. Web. 30 Oct. 2023.