Reading
Esther 5:9-7:10

9Then Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart, but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he didn’t stand up nor move for him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai. 10Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife. 11Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

12Haman also said, “Yes, Esther the queen let no man come in with the king to the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow I am also invited by her together with the king. 13Yet all this avails me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.”

14Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

1On that night, the king couldn’t sleep. He commanded the book of records of the chronicles to be brought, and they were read to the king. 2It was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who were doorkeepers, who had tried to lay hands on the King Ahasuerus. 3The king said, “What honor and dignity has been given to Mordecai for this?”

Then the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”

4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.

5The king’s servants said to him, “Behold, Haman stands in the court.”

The king said, “Let him come in.” 6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?”

Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?” 7Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8let royal clothing be brought which the king uses to wear, and the horse that the king rides on, and on the head of which a royal crown is set. 9Let the clothing and the horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delights to honor with them, and have him ride on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”

10Then the king said to Haman, “Hurry and take the clothing and the horse, as you have said, and do this for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Let nothing fail of all that you have spoken.”

11Then Haman took the clothing and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and had him ride through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

12Mordecai came back to the king’s gate, but Haman hurried to his house, mourning and having his head covered. 13Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.” 14While they were yet talking with him, the king’s eunuchs came, and hurried to bring Haman to the banquet that Esther had prepared.

1So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. 2The king said again to Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, “What is your petition, queen Esther? It shall be granted you. What is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.”

3Then Esther the queen answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for male and female slaves, I would have held my peace, although the adversary could not have compensated for the king’s loss.”

5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?”

6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!”

Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen. 7The king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden. Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen, for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king. 8Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman had fallen on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in front of me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.

9Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king, said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!”

10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath was pacified.


Devotional

Irony of Haman

How the Tables Have Turned

As we read in Chapter 3, Haman’s heart was so filled with hatred for the Jewish people that his actions became cold and heartless. In our Scripture today, we learn that something else about Haman’s character was skewed as well. He was so blinded by the authority and power that had been bestowed upon him that he began to feel a little too safe and untouchable. After he and his friends had devised the plan to impale Mordecai with a 75-foot pole, Haman skipped his way into the King’s bedroom and upon hearing about this person whom the King wanted to honour assumed it must be him. How ironic that Haman’s celebration and Mordecai’s execution became Mordecai’s celebration and Haman’s execution. Haman built his own murder weapon.

The story goes on to tell how through Esther’s bravery, Haman’s evil plot(s) were revealed, and the Jewish people were saved from extermination. It seems in a way as though the redemption of the Jews came about because Haman’s evil plans created an opportunity for Esther to stand up, free her people, and finally come clean about her heritage. Granted it wasn’t an easy task and she risked everything to do it, but God created an opportunity through Haman for Esther to save her people.

What do the actions of Haman tell us about self-righteousness?

What do the actions of God tell us about His righteousness?