Haman, lifted up with pride at Esther’s invitation to the banquet where no one else came but the king himself, “went forth that day joyful and with a glad heart.” But when he saw Mordecai, who did not stand up or move for him, he was full of indignation against the Jew. Nevertheless he refrained from doing anything to him then.
When Haman came home he told his wife and friends of the glory of his riches, of the multitude of his children, of the honor the king had bestowed on him. And now this special invitation to the banquet, which none other had received, was the crown of all. There was one thorn, however — Mordecai the Jew. “Yet all this availeth me nothing” — such was the bitterness and hatred of his heart — “so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting in the gate.” His wife and friends then suggested that the gallows be made 50 cubits high (about 75 feet) and on the morrow Haman should speak to the king and have Mordecai hanged on it, after which he could go merrily to the banquet. The thing pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows to be made.
Haman and his friends were truly among those of whom Scripture speaks: “Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.” Rom. 3:14-1814Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17And the way of peace have they not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:14‑18). Such is the nature of fallen man, unless the Lord touches the heart with a sense of His love. And this is why it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to go to Calvary’s cross for us.
The foe of God’s people had made his plans, but all unseen, God was at work on behalf of His people. That night, the king could not sleep. In his wakefulness, he called for the records of the kingdom, and as they read to him from them, it was found written that Mordecai had told of the treachery of the two chamberlains who had sought to slay the king. The king asked his servants, “What honor and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?” and they replied that nothing had been done for him.
It was now early in the morning and Haman was on his way into the court to request of the king that Mordecai be slain. How little did he know of what was in the king’s heart! Hearing that Haman was in the court, the king had him called in, and before Haman had time to make his terrible request, the king asked him, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?” Haman, in his pride, had no thought of any one but himself, and was thus caught in his own snare. He answered the king at once, asking the highest honors. He suggested that the man whom the king delighted to honor be arrayed in the king’s own royal apparel, with the king’s own crown upon his head, and that he ride on the king’s own horse, that the noblest of the princes lead him about through the streets on horseback and proclaim before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.”
What horror must have filled Haman’s heart when the king ordered him to “Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew... let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.”
ML 07/12/1959